Some LoL champion releases, reworks to be delayed after Riot Games layoffs

It’s looking very likely some League of Legends champion releases and reworks will be impacted in the wake of the recent Riot Games layoffs, one of the game’s chief developers has admitted this week, though there is good news for Smolder and Skarner and their impending arrivals.

League lead champion producer Alexia “Lexical” Gao attempted to put fans at ease this week, confirming projects like Smolder’s release and the much-anticipated Skarner visual and gameplay update “will not be impacted” by the Riot restructure. However, she could not ensure the same for future projects. “We are still in the process of figuring out what we can support versus the timelines,” Lexical admitted on Jan. 27, adding the League team hopes to release an updated roadmap that will include a refreshed timeline for these projects soon.

Many fans were particularly worried that Smolder, League’s newest champ, would have its launch delayed after it was revealed designer Jacob “Llama” Crouch was one of the 530 staff let go by the company on Jan. 23. Lexical has since confirmed Smolder is still on track to arrive on the Rift with League Patch 14.3 next Wednesday.

The same goes for Skarner’s VGU, which has been in the works at Riot for almost two years now. First announced in 2022, the Crystal Vanguard beat out Nocture, Kog’Maw, and Tryndamere in the VGU poll, with fans getting a look at redesign concepts throughout 2023. The Skarner VGU hasn’t been given a release date, but according to Lexical’s recent comments, everyone’s favorite scorpion should get its update in the first half of the 2024 League season.

Dot Esports reached out to Riot for comment regarding the impacts of the restructuring on these projects but did not receive a response at the time of publishing.

Beyond this, question marks have been raised over the myriad of projects still in the works behind the scenes at Riot. October 2023’s Champion Roadmap didn’t give much away but we can assume the arrival of Arcane’s Ambessa Medarda, the Lee Sin and Teemo visual updates, and the supposed rework for Shyvana will be pushed back as the team adjusts to new work conditions.

Update Jan. 30, 3.46pm CT: Riot has since responded to Dot’s request for comment but chose not to share any additional statement beyond what has already been posted on social media.