Riot Games released a statement on Friday, May 17, 2019 stating that the company would not be altering its stance on mandatory arbitration for current employees. Future Riot employees will be able to opt out. 

The statement released by Riot Games on Friday morning reads as follows:

"Last Monday, many Rioters shared their perspectives on arbitration, issues they’ve experienced at Riot, and changes they hope to see. Many also showed their deep love for Riot and their desire to make Riot better. The Rioter walkout was an important moment in our company’s transformation, and it reaffirmed our commitment to keep fighting to make this the company we believe it can be.

We’ve taken the time to clearly understand the range of perspectives and opinions related to our arbitration agreement, including those shared over the last three weeks. Ultimately, given the complexities of ongoing litigation, we will not change our employee agreements while in active litigation. We know not everyone agrees with this decision, but we also know everyone does want Riot to continue to improve. We remain committed to having a firm answer around extending an opt-out to all Rioters when active litigation concludes. Everything we’ve heard will impact our discussions when we revisit arbitration and we hope to have an answer that will be satisfying to everyone. At a minimum, we will give new Rioters the option to opt out of arbitration on individual sexual harassment claims."

The response was the most recent development in a saga that has spanned nearly a full year between Riot Games and both past and current employees. Most recently, Riot Games employeees staged a walkout on May 6th to protest the company's forced arbitration during litigation.

Despite the walk-out, Riot Games is holding steadfast to their previous position, though future employees will be able to opt out of arbitration. The statement also included new initiatives introduced by Riot's Diversity & Inclusion team that will be overseen by Chief Diversity Officer Angela Roseboro. Roseboro was hired at the end of February 2019.

"We are creating a new forum called the D&I Rioters Council. Led by Angela, the goal is to leverage a group of engaged, thoughtful Rioters from teams across the company to participate in formal discussions on D&I. This will become a proactive approach to share perspectives, create change, and identify barriers and opportunities to move us forward in D&I and culture.

We have also invited a diverse group of Rioters to participate in reviewing aspects of our Code of Conduct where they have concerns. Rather than bringing the new code of conduct to Rioters as a finished product, we want representatives of Riot involved in the process, much in the way we drafted our values last year (though we’ll admit that to hit our 30 day goal on this project we’re going to be limited in who we include in this process)." 

Riot concluded its most recent statement that while changes have been made, the process is being viewed as an on-going evolution and more updates would be on the way. This article will continue to be updated as new developments unfold.