Riot Games has revealed that they have reset their League of Legends MMO spinoff.
Riot co-founder Marc Merrill explained everything on a thread on Twitter. You can read the full thread below, but we’ll summarize it for you first.
Riot chose to reset their MMO because they found they were only making just another MMO with a Runeterra team. Riot wants this game to really “do justice to the potential of Runeterra ,” so their plan is to really make something that has their own spin on the genre.
Merrill also explained that Fabrice Condominas, who previously worked at Bioware, is executive producer of this rebooted MMO. Dataminers found the identity of the executive producer or the now-cancelled first MMO, Vijay Thakkar, through his LinkedIn, a few months ago. Merrill explains Thakkar is now technical director for the project.
Finally, Merrill concludes that they will be going quiet on the title for now, which really makes sense since they’re starting over. This choice not to share anything from the preliminary stage of development is the smart one, as many gamers can hyperfixate on development decisions as ‘cut’ or ‘lost’ content, without understanding why such decisions are made.
This announcement comes one month after Riot unveiled another spinoff in development, the fighting game Project L, now officially called 2XKO. 2KXO will be released in 2025 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows, likely via Steam.
However, this also comes two months after Riot laid off 530 of their employees, representing 11 % of their workforce. Riot described these layoffs as necessary. In their detailed explanation, these layoffs are also a result of Riot winding down some of their other projects. They are completely shutting down their indie publishing label Riot Forge, and their struggling F2P card Legends of Runeterra, is not getting cancelled, but it will get scaled down.
Riot’s announcements indicate that the company’s struggles have not been as severe as in other companies, but it still compromised their finances enough that they were forced to take action. The layoffs and choices to pursue some projects over others were definitely decided far in advance, probably last year, and they seem confident enough with their current action plans that they are moving forward with what they have now.
Riot’s financial health and success will not just be important for the company themselves, but as a sign that the video game industry is still good business, because if it’s good for them, it’ll be good for others as well.
You can read Merrill’s full thread below.
“Hey all – We know many of you are hungry for news about the @riotgames
#MMO project, and we really appreciate your patience and the incredible support you’ve shown us so far. I’m writing to update you today on where we’re at. And before anyone panics: yes, we are still working on the game. #Leagueoflegends
After a lot of reflection and discussion, we’ve decided to reset the direction of the project some time ago. This decision wasn’t easy, but it was necessary. The initial vision just wasn’t different enough from what you can play today.
We don’t believe you all want an MMO that you’ve played before with a Runeterra coat of paint; to truly do justice to the potential of Runeterra and to meet the incredibly high expectations of players around the world, we need to do something that truly feels like a significant evolution of the genre.
This is a huge challenge, but one that our team of deeply passionate MMO players and game development veterans is incredibly motivated to pursue.
With this new direction, I’m excited to introduce @Faburisu as the new Executive Producer of the MMO. Fabrice’s experience as a player and passion for creating immersive worlds is extraordinary. Having led big projects at Riot, BioWare, and EA, he brings a fresh perspective and a shared commitment to excellence that will guide our team as they continue on this difficult journey.
We started laying the groundwork for this pivot some time ago and over the last year under Vijay Thakkar’s management, we built key components of the technical foundation to create the kind of ambitious game we’re talking about. We’re grateful for Vijay’s leadership and that he’ll be part of the game leadership team going forward as our Technical Director.
Resetting our development path also means we will be “going dark” for a long time—likely several years. This silence will help provide space for the team to focus on the incredible amount of work ahead of them. We understand the excitement and anticipation that surrounds new information, but we ask for your trust during this silent phase.
Remember, ‘no news is good news,’ as it means we’re hard at work, pouring our hearts and souls into making something that we hope you’ll love.
Thank you for believing in us and for your patience. We’re incredibly committed to this mission and we look forward to the adventure ahead and the stories we’ll tell together.”
