Riot Games Delays Several Patches To Fight Against Crunch and Give Team Time Off

Riot Games has had a lot of negative connotations around their work environment and it looks like they are trying to make it right.

While Riot Games continues to ride that high following a successful Valorant launch, incredible new content for League of Legends, and tons of other projects the studio is currently working on; the company itself is still evolving its own work experience following a very tumultuous couple of years. In order to learn from past mistakes and be better, Riot is combating crunch by giving the Riot Games team some much-needed time off.

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Riot Games isn’t out of the spotlight quite yet following several lawsuits in-house after sexual harassment allegations came to light and workforce toxicity. But from there is growth and to celebrate a successful year of several major launches and continuation game updates such as Teamfight Tactics, League of Legends, Valorant, and Legends of Runeterra, the company is awarding a perfectly timed break for all. That being said, players should be aware of what that means for updates.

The break will kick off on August 10th to “disconnect, recharge, and reboot.” They did mention in a recent blog post that they will have staggering teams so that not everyone is off at once to make sure that base operations are taken care of for games, but that big pushes will be delayed until the end of the break period. 

This has been a big year for Riot for a lot of reasons. Putting the ‘s’ in Riot Games was perhaps our proudest moment as a company so far, but tending to so many new games is a delicate balance. Add COVID-19, working from home, and everything else going on in the world, and it can be hard to separate the “work” and “life” pieces of the work-life equation. As game developers, we’re all hyper aware of the effects of crunch and project-based deadlines. 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.

It’s good to see studios make moves like this and even better to be public and transparent about it. Players now know to expect a few issues here and there and can be understanding with the reasons why, and other studios – especially those with hefty crunch reports – can see that you can balance productivity with also caring for your teams. 

Related: Valorant Error Code 39 and How to Fix It

We hope that the entire Riot Games team has a restful week, they’ve earned that break a thousand times over. 2020 may be crap, but they made the best of it with incredible launches and continuous updates and transparency with their community. 

What has been your favorite thing from Riot Games in 2020? Are you digging Valorant? Stuck on League of Legends? Or enjoying their card adventure with Runeterra? Sound off with your thoughts over on Twitter @PrimaGames!


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Author
Liana Ruppert
With an arguably unhealthy obsession with Dragon Age and Mass Effect, Liana is wildly passionate about all things in the gaming community. From shooters, to RPGs, if it's out - she's playing it. A medically retired US Sailor and now full-time hoarder of gaming collectibles, Liana's passion for everything in the gaming industry is palpable. Also, if you lose her in a crowd, just casually mention any BioWare game and the crazy pterodactyl screech will without a doubt follow. You can follow her on Twitter @DirtyEffinHippy or email her for editorial inquiries at [email protected]!