Riot games, the popular developer of the hit MOBA game, League Of Legends is currently under investigation for alleged gender discrimination. Apparently, the work culture at the Riot Games office is toxic, even leading to a mass walkout when the company tried to force two women into arbitration instead of heading to court. Unfortunately for Riot Games, Justice is a dish best served cold and it turns out that the state of California had been quietly investigating the game developer this whole time.
Announced via Kotaku, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing is currently attempting to use legal means in order to force Riot to release employee pay data so it can see what on earth is actually going on. This data will pretty much reveal if they’re actually paying women less than men and the only reason they’ve had to legally force riot to do this is because they’ve refused to provide this data voluntarily.
Its rather ridiculous that in this day and age with all the gender equality movements going on that there are places where women still get paid less than men. While it is understood that gaming has historically been a more male dominated industry, there have been many women who have contributed to it, from Dona Bailey who co-created Centipede in 1981 to Amy Hennig, who directed Uncharted 3 in 2011. These are just a few of many notable women in the industry.
The agency investigating says Riot is under investigation for “alleged unequal pay, sexual harassment, sexual assault, retaliation, and gender discrimination in selection and promotion.”




