The £75million ($100million) from Riot Games‘ gender discrimination settlement will be shared between over 1,000 women.
A California judge has approved the settlement and has allowed the sum to be paid out to more than 1,000 women following their mistreatment at the League Of Legends studio (via GamesIndustry.biz and Axios).
The settlement was reportedly approved on July 22 and payments will range from four to five-figure sums that are meant to be paid out to the women. It was also revealed how the £75million ($100million) will be used to address other issues raised by the lawsuit.
Riot Games intends to appoint an independent contractor who will monitor and investigate any pay disparities. The studio will act upon receiving findings. Additionally, the developer has been told to hire up to 40 qualified women currently working in temporary positions into full-time roles across engineering, art, design and QA (quality assurance).
“My hope is that this serves as a wake-up call for the whole industry,” said Jes Negrón, one of the lawsuit’s plaintiffs and former Riot developer.
“We’ve set a precedent that the sexist behaviour that runs rampant at gaming companies is unacceptable and, when companies are unwilling to address it themselves in a meaningful way, women have options to get justice.”
The class action lawsuit, which highlighted the culture of sexism at the studio, was filed in 2018 and was settled in December 2021, where an agreement with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), California Division of Labor Standards (DLSE) and several other plaintiffs.
At the time it was confirmed that around £59million ($80million USD) will go to members of the lawsuit, with the other £15million ($20million) going towards legal fees.
In other news, John Needham, president of esports at Riot Games has said that “nearly every game” that the company makes will be competitive with “some sort of esports component to it”.
