Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends and Valorant, is giving its employees a break. The week of August 10, the company will shut down to allow staff a chance to “disconnect, recharge, and reboot,” according to a blog post published by the company on Tuesday.
In 2020, Riot has released Legends of Runeterra, a digital collectible card game and Valorant, a first-person shooter, and is set to launch League of Legends: Wild Rift, a multiplayer online battle arena game. The company, which has 24 offices around the world, recognizes that its employees have been overworked this year.
“As game developers, we’re all hyper-aware of the effects of crunch and project-based deadlines,” Riot said. “We owe it to ourselves and to you to prioritize our health as a team (well, many teams) so we can bring you new experiences long into the future.”
Riot added that would be rescheduling some patches and release dates to enable staff to enjoy a few days off, though some teams will alternate their vacation time to ensure the company continues to run smoothly.
Some game developers have been called out in recent years for overworking their employees to the point of exhaustion. The media has also helped shed light on the burnout that many workers in the gaming industry suffer at crunch time. Meanwhile, many in the industry have pushed for unionization to allow their concerns to be addressed.
In 2019, Epic Games gave staff a two-week vacation after Polygon reported that employees had worked overtime for months to support the release of Fortnite. Epic has also given staff two weeks off at Christmas in the past, according WRAL TechWire. Following the Polygon report, EA-owned studio Respawn said it would maintain flexibility on updates to battle royale shooter, Apex Legends, to “avoid crunch.”
In recent months, Riot has taken steps to improve its company culture after allegations of sexist behavior from some employees, who claimed the company failed to tackle ongoing abuse. The studio settled a gender discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit with current and former female employees for $10 million in December 2019.
Source: The Verge
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