The League of Legends MMO isn’t arriving for years.
Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill has given an update on the development of the League of Legends MMO, but it isn’t good news with the direction of the game being reset and delayed years into the future.
The League of Legends MMO is one of the most exciting projects that we know Riot Games has in the works, with many fans eager to experience an MMO-style game in the Runeterra universe. However, after a long period of complete silence, the first update in a while has proven to be bad news.
Posting a long thread on X, Merrill stated that the team “decided to reset the direction of the project some time ago.” This was due to the game not feeling unique, or different enough to other MMOs on the market, something Riot wanted to avoid.
“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,” said Merrill. “This is a huge challenge, but one that our team of deeply passionate MMO players and game development veterans is incredibly motivated to pursue.”
Along with the decision to rest the direction of the game, there has also been a personnel shakeup at the higher level of the development team. Fabrice Condominas, a veteran leader at Riot who previously worked at Bioware, will now serve as executive producer on the project, while the former lead, Vijay Thakkar, will be the technical director.
This announcement also brings with it further bad news for fans hoping to get some information on the League of Legends MMO, as Merrill confirmed that this change in direction will mean the team will be silent for a long period as they work on this new version of the game. While no exact time frame was given for when we can expect to get more info on the MMO, Merrill did say this period of silence would likely be “several years,” which kills any hope fans had of seeing it around the 15th-anniversary celebrations for LoL later this year.
While the news is disappointing for fans who are eager to see more of the project, there is some good news to take from this. First off, the game is still being worked on, which was a big question after the recent layoffs at Riot Games. Then there’s also the fact that Riot wants to make something truly unique and not just World of Warcraft with a LoL skin on top, which will surely be a good thing when we do finally get hands-on years down the line.
Gregory Daniels is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, he explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture. Gregory enjoys staying ahead of the curve and sharing emerging trends with his readers.
