League of Legends maker Riot Games has apparently filed to take two of five lawsuits brought against it by former employees into a private venue. 

That's according to Kotaku, which reports that the firm is trying to force two of the women attempting to sue it into private arbitration. 

The League of Legends studio claims that these two plaintiffs waived their right to take legal action against Riot due to the employment contracts that they signed upon being hired.

“Today’s actions only serve to silence the voices of individuals who speak out against such misconduct and demonstrate that the company’s words were no more than lip service,” said Ryan Saba, the lawyer representing those filing cases against Riot.

Asked for comment, Riot itself it is changing its culture but won't talk about any cases.

While we won’t discuss details about ongoing litigation, we look forward to resolving all matters through the appropriate processes," the firm said.

“Our commitment to building and sustaining a world class, inclusive culture at Riot is unchanged and we value everyone who has come forward to help us become a better company. We have acknowledged that there are improvements we can make to our culture and community — we have made progress and are hyper-focused on continuing to do so. We have been evaluating all of our procedures and policies, including those related to arbitration. All of that work is well underway, and as we move forward, we will not hesitate to implement changes once we have thoughtfully assessed that these changes move us is the right direction for Riot and Rioters.”

This all follows a terrible PR year for Riot. The firm's working culture was exposed in the summer of 2018, with allegations of sexism and harassment prevalent throughout the organisation. The firm has said it is trying to do better, overhauling its working culture. This was a theme that ran through our interview with UK head of esports Mo Fadl in January, too.