Riot Games, the makers of League of Legends, announced that they’ve reached an agreement with the aggrieved parties involving the class-action lawsuit pertaining to gender discrimination and sexual harassment at the company.

In a blog post published on August 23rd, 2019 over on the Riot Games website, the company explained…

“[…] we’re pleased to announce that we’ve come to an agreement in principle to settle the class action lawsuit against Riot. “We realize that this is a path that many companies in our position may not have chosen, but we felt it was the strongest statement we could make to Rioters, and prospective Rioters, that we’re prepared to go over and above in order to move forward. Both sides believe that this proposed settlement, once finalized, is fair for all parties involved.”

They note that they can’t share details about the proposed settlement, but that they will put the proposal forward to the courts for a final say.

As mentioned in the report by TechRaptor, this is just a preliminary step in the settlement, and there’s still a lengthy process that has to be undertaken before the settlement goes through.

In the joint statement issued by the company, Nicolo Laurent, CEO of Riot Games, mentioned…

“We are grateful for every Rioter who has come forward with their concerns and believe this resolution is fair for everyone involved. With this agreement, we are honoring our commitment to find the best and most expeditious way for all Rioters, and Riot, to move forward and heal. Over the past year, we’ve made substantial progress toward evolving our culture and will continue to pursue this work as we strive to be the most inclusive company in gaming.”

The stomach-churning response proffered to the perpetually offended was actually met warmly by the very same crowd that had originally racked Riot over the coals for the alleged mistreatment of their staff.

As pointed out by Dexerto, Rioters Against Forced Arbitration tweeted out the preliminary agreement for a settlement was a “huge victory for women in games”.

TL;DR: Class action lawsuit against Riot has been settled (other suits that went to arbitration are still pending). We believe this is a huge victory for women in games. Full text of statement from the walkout organizers here: pic.twitter.com/H9qhse35V8 — Rioters Against Forced Arbitration (@RiotersAFA) August 23, 2019

This all started after a Kotaku exposé that was published in the summer of last year, where Riot was dragged through the mud for having a “culture of sexism”.

Following the exposé, Riot announced that they were overhauling the corporate culture, which included a diversity and inclusion division, with a chief diversity and inclusion officer.

Shortly after that they were sued by former employees, and then they went dark for a while just until they recently announced that they were in the preliminary stages of settling the lawsuit.

(Thanks for the news tip Paul)