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Tencent’s Riot Games lays off 530 employees

By Nithya Bose in Business News, posted January 23, 2024

Tencent's Riot Games division is reducing its workforce by 11 percent, affecting nearly 530 jobs as it streamlines operations.

The company is also reducing its game-publishing division for smaller developers.

Riot CEO Dylan Jadeja told staff in a letter on the company’s blog: “We’re changing some of the bets we’ve made and shifting how we work across the company to create focus and move us toward a more sustainable future.”

The layoffs follow recent downsizing in the media and technology sectors, where firms cut costs to navigate rocky economic conditions.

Big tech players like Amazon and Google have also confirmed layoffs this year.

Legends of Runeterra, a title released in 2020, will see a reduction in headcount.

Jadeja wrote: “We’ve been subsidizing the cost of development on LoR through our other games, but at this point, that’s just not a viable option.”

Eric Shen will assume the role of executive producer for Legends of Runeterra, taking over from Dave Guskin, who will transition to other projects within Riot.

"It’s time to refocus our efforts on the ambitious projects underway internally at Riot”

Riot is also retracting its involvement in the Forge division, responsible for publishing games from independent developers.

Jadeja wrote in the letter: “We’re proud of what we’ve done together to bring these stories to life, but it’s time to refocus our efforts on the ambitious projects underway internally at Riot.”

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Tencent, headquartered in China, acquired Riot Games in 2015, and Riot Games is based in Los Angeles.

Tencent has faced faced challenges, with revenue growth slowing down in the last seven quarters and shares declining 12 percent in late December.

It has been hit by new regulations restricting excessive gaming in China.

Pony Ma, Tencent's co-founder and CEO, said in November the company's strategic shift toward "less scalable activities" and increased investments in artificial intelligence.

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