Long-time Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent has announced that he will step down from his role later this year, and is set to be replaced by the current President of Riot A. Dylan Jadeja.
Laurent attributed the move to personal reasons, noting that he plans to move back to France and spend more time with his family.
Riot Games expects the move to be completed by the end of 2023 and Laurent will stay in his role until then. he will continue to be an advisor to Riot after his departure, and claimed he has no plans to work for another company or start his own following the change.
Laurent is one of the most prominent figures in recent Riot history, having worked for the company for more than 14 years.
The current CEO joined Riot Games in 2009 as the Vice President of International, working on the company’s international expansion. He was later appointed as President of Global Publishing, before transitioning to a CEO role in 2017.
Laurent will be replaced by another senior figure in the company, the current President of Riot Games. A.Dylan Jadeja has worked at Riot for more than a decade, holding positions of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Jadeja joined the games giant after working as a VP in Goldman Sachs and as a Senior Associate at A.T. Kearney.
In an internal email shared on Riot’s website, Laurent went into detail about how his position had taken a toll on his personal life, and expressed that the decision came out of a desire to better prioritise family life over work life. Laurent is originally from France, but Riot Games is headquarted in Los Angeles, US.
Both the former and new CEO of Riot shared statements in a release published on the Riot Games website, with both expressing hope and excitement for the things to come. Jadeja noted that he “might do some things differently than those before him.” Laurent said he believes Dylan Jadeja is the perfect leader to steward Riot in the next couple of years.
The company said additional details would be announced once the change is finalised in the coming months.
Riot Games is an esports industry stalwart. It is the developer of League of Legends, one of the largest esports’ in the world and likely the most global, as well as VALORANT and several other esports titles.
