Image: Riot Games
Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent is stepping down after six years, handing over the role to global president A. Dylan Jadeja.
Riot Games has announced that its longtime CEO Nicolo Laurent is stepping down from his duties at the company after spending six years in the role. He will be replaced by Riot’s current global president, A. Dylan Jadeja. Laurent’s departure from the company was an amicable one, as the ex-CEO simply wants to spend more time with his family.
Fans of Riot’s games will be very familiar with Nicolo Laurent, considering the ex-CEO has spent 14 years in various leadership roles, and acted as the company’s mouthpiece in all that time. Jadeja joined Riot in 2011 as its Chief Financial Officer before transitioning to Chief Operating Officer in 2014. He became the company’s president in 2017, so he seems like a natural pick to replace Laurent.
Laurent will continue to serve as Riot’s CEO until he starts to hand over the role to Jadeja, “over the coming months,” with the latter becoming CEO by 2023’s end. Laurent will not be leaving the company, however. The current CEO will stay with Riot in an advisory role moving forward, but his duties will likely be minimal.
In a letter sent to employees today, Laurent explained that his time as CEO has come with a lot of difficulties, not the least of which have been laid on his family. Laurent writes that they miss France, “so much, and want to move back,” but he doesn’t, “plan on joining another company or starting a new company.” He will stay on as an advisor, “for years to come.”
Jadeja also wrote a letter to employees saying that, “I’ve been here for more than 12 years, and in many ways, Riot is my home; a home I’m deeply invested in, fiercely protective of, and grateful for every single day.” The upcoming CEO also hints at future changes at the company and asks employees for, “your patience, your willingness to share perspectives, and an openness to new ideas,” as he uses the rest of 2023 to, “engage with parts of Riot that I haven’t in some time, particularly on the product side.”
Jadeja is inheriting quite a few products where Riot is concerned. The games publisher has expanded far beyond League of Legends and VALORANT in recent years, with mobile spin-offs like Wild Rift and singleplayer games like Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story. The company is also working on a League of Legends MMO and a League of Legends fighting game called Project L. Arcane Season 2 is also in the works, though it won’t be released until 2024 at the earliest.