According to Riot Games, the studio has successfully eliminated its pay disparity for its women and minority employees. The company recently published its annual diversity report, and claimed that “there are currently no statistically significant differences in pay for women or underrepresented minorities at Riot.”
Following an initial attempt to settle in 2020, Riot settled its lawsuit last year, which related to gender discrimination at the studio. Filed by former Riot employees Melanie McCracken and Jess Negrón, the lawsuit alleged a history of sexism at the company, including women employees being subjected to harassment and retaliation on the basis of the gender or sex.
Following the 2021 suit, Riot was required by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing to create an annual $6 million cash reserve for three years. The reserve fund was used to hire a third-party expert to analyze the company’s pay and promotion practices.
The League of Legends developer was the subject of an extensive report by Kotaku in 2018 alleging a toxic workplace culture. In the wake of that report, there were company walkouts to protest forced arbitration clauses related to sexual harassment claims.
In this year’s report, Riot says it’s made progress in promoting women employees. 22 percent of its staff are said to have leadership positions, and 26 percent of employees across Riot’s various offices are women. “This is evidence that we have our sights set on moving the needle towards representation of women in our industry.”
Riot’s report also called attention to its various studio Inclusion Groups created with the goal of “playing a vital role in building and cultivating an inclusive community inside and out.” It plans on creating a group for Asian and Pacific Islander employees that will launch later this year.
To Riot, the annual updates are just one of many ways for the developer to help ensure that its employees “know they have a place here […] Every day is a new opportunity to aim higher, and we will do so with every chance we get.”