Riot’s 2021 diversity and inclusion progress report shows dramatic improvements

The company received its third Great Place to Work certificate.
A female character from Riot Games

Over the course of many successful years, Riot Games has become a video game industry giant. They’ve become the trendsetters in the online gaming scene. Recently, the 2021 diversity and inclusion report has been made public by the company, a topic that created controversy for the company some time ago.

Related: Activision Blizzard gets sued for sexism

The report by Angela Roseboro, former Diversity & Inclusion Officer of the company, has clarified that there are no ”significant differences in pay for women or underrepresented minorities at Riot.”

The successful advisor also mentioned that Riot has managed to achieve Great Place to Work status for a third consecutive time with the highest favorability rate the company has ever seen, a whopping 95%.

The representation rate of women has also increased over the year. The report states that female employees occupy a quarter of the leadership roles within Riot.

Riot also believes that they’ve included more diversity within their content. This belief can be backed up by the fact that recently, some new champions with diverse backgrounds were added to League of Legends.

Compared to its MOBA rival in Dota 2, it’s safe to say that LoL is winning regarding diversity. Ever since the Reborn update of Dota 2, there has only been one new hero who’s not a monster, god, spirit, or beast. Therefore it isn’t easy to assess how the creators of Dota 2 are approaching this subject.

The decision to hire a Diversity and Inclusion team came from the famous 2018 sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit. The company went on to lose the case and will pay $100 million in total, including court fees and payment for the plaintiff.

Riot has been trying to do better, and Roseboro acknowledges that the company and her team should be proud of what they’ve achieved in the past three years. In the report, she also states that they ”still have room to improve and grow.”

The 20-year veteran also made public that she will be stepping down from her position as Chief Diversity Officer and will take a less time-consuming role as an advisor to spend time with her family.

Roseboro said goodbye to Riot with these words:

”As Riot’s first Chief Diversity Officer, it has been my honor to be part of Riot’s story. I joined Riot at a pivotal time in the company’s history, where we were facing some of our biggest obstacles, both internally and externally. The road may not have always been easy, but we got through it while coming to discover a better version of ourselves, and that is something to be proud of. We have built a great foundation across the company, and with a very skilled diversity and inclusion team, I leave knowing that the work will continue.”

Even though it has come a long way, it’s safe to say that others in the game industry look up to Riot. As a trailblazer, it falls on the company’s shoulders to dictate what comes next on diversity within the game community.

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