Riot Games is temporarily expanding its ‘Queue Dodge’ program to let staff exit the company with a chunk of their annual salary and other benefits.
As detailed in a lengthy blog post from CEO Nicolo Laurent, the limited time Queue Dodge system will allow anybody to leave the studio with 25 percent of their base salary, three months of COBRA benefits where applicable, and their full bonuses.
The Queue Dodge program has been in place for years, but normally only allows employees to leave with those benefits within their first six months at the company. According to Laurent, however, Riot wants to give everybody the chance to leave on positive terms as the League of Legends maker looks to implement a new strategic plan.
Broadly speaking, that strategic pivot will see the Tencent-owned studio reorganize itself around five key operating groups: games, esports, entertainment, publishing, and enterprise. Riot also intends to implement a hybrid work scheme that will grant workers three “core” days in the office and two “flex” days that can be used to work remotely or in-office.
“[Some Rioters] might not be excited about our strategy, or might not be feeling great about our new operating model. They might not like the changes we’re making to our culture or our plans to return to the office on a flex schedule. Or maybe they’re looking at this transition point as an opportunity to explore something different outside of Riot,” said Laurent.
“For anyone who isn’t on board with everything above and isn’t committed to the things we want to make for players, there will be no hard feelings. We want every Rioter to feel energized, supported and excited for the next phase of our climb.”
The news comes weeks after Riot agreed to settle a 2018 gender discrimination class-action lawsuit for $100 million, ending a legal skirmish that revealed a culture of sexism at the League of Legends studio.