Riot Games agrees to pay $100 million settlement for class-action gender discrimination suit

The League of Legends publisher agrees to settle the 2018 class-action suit

Riot Games announced on Monday that  a 2018 class-action su𝓀it with California state agencies and female employees for $100🐬 million.

The League of Legends publisher agrees ꩵto pay $80 million to members of the class-action suit, made up of current and former women who worked at the company full-time or as a contractor since🎐 November 2014. An additional $20 million will be paid toward legal fees and expenses, per .

As part of the settlement Riot Games will also commit to having its internal reporting and p🍌ay equity processes꧑ monitored by a third party. This party will be jointly approved by Riot Games and the , and will review complaint investigations and outcomes over three years.

The internal culture issues at Riot came to light in the mainstream thanks to a 2018 eꦆxposé published by . The report detailed issues of discrimination and harassment at the publisher, leading to employee demonstrations and eventually the class-action suit. Though originally set to settle for $10 million, the .

Riot executives🥀 addressed the settlement in an email to Riot employees, obtained by . In the email, they say the number of eligible claimants has more than doubled as the company has hired more women in recent years.

Both sides have agreed, but🌸 , with a hearing to be set by the ju🍷dge.

The settlement arrives at the end of 2021, and follows several other publishers facing their own reckonings over reports of internal culture issues. Companies like Ubisoft have been brought under scrutiny, and Activision Blizzard has been the subject of another investigation f𓄧rom the California DFEH over reports of discrimination, harassment, and a toxic workplace.