🎮 Riot Settles To Change Course

Over 2,300 female employees and contractors of Riot Games will receive a $100 million settlement from the League of Legends maker following a class action lawsuit claiming systemic sexism and sexual harassment at the company. In 2018, video game publication Kotaku revealed a toxic culture of discriminatory hiring and promoting practices along with widespread sexual harassment in the workplace. Riot initially settled the ensuing class action suit for $10 million in 2019, but the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) and Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) blocked the settlement saying a larger sum could be agreed to.

• According to The Verge, Riot's new settlement includes terms beyond monetary compensation greater pay transparency and several years of third-party monitoring.

The Bigger Picture

As Riot settles and pledges to change its ways, fellow video game giant Activision Blizzard is embroiled in a similar sexual harassment scandal. Beyond these cases, the entire gaming industry has been grappling with a deeply toxic culture among employees and players alike. A widely publicized incident in 2014 dubbed GamerGate first brought the issue to light, but the industry has been slow to address it.

The Verdict

For an industry that raked in over $85 billion in 2021, while Riot alone made nearly $2 billion in 2020, settlements of the million-dollar variety then dragged over multiple years won't get the attention of corporate leadership—who are the ones that can ultimately change things.