Riot Games shelves its upcoming MMO for ‘several years’ amid development ‘reset’

Riot Games, the masters of the MOBA genre with League of Legends, and quick students of the FPS market with VALORANT, has not yet managed to translate its typical magic to MMOs, as it seems their upcoming title has faced a number of roadblocks.

The studio announced its pivot to the MMO world back in 2020, with a focus on expanding the world of League of Legends and Runeterra.

However, after three years of silence, Riot Games has now revealed that they are starting over, and will be delaying the MMO for "several years".

Riot Games delays League of Legends MMO for 'several years'

Despite having been working on the title since it was announced in 2020, Riot Games has now decided to "reset the direction" of the project, which will add many years to its development cycle.

Taking to Twitter, Riot Co-Founder Marc Merrill said, "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."

Merrill claimed that they didn't just want to make another standard MMO with a Runeterra palette, and instead needed to advance the genre.

"Resetting our development path also means we will be "going dark" for a long time—likely several years," Merrill continued.

"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."

Riot Games bolsters MMO studio amid delays

Click to enlarge

Amidst this news though Riot Games has bolstered the studio with former EA and Bioware producer Fabrice Condominas, who will be the Executive behind the MMO project.

Condominas is known for being the mastermind behind multiple Mass Effect titles and Star Wars Squadrons, with multiple other Riot projects on his portfolio.

"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," Merrill continued on his thread.

Riot Games will also be continuing to advance the LoL lore through Arcane Season 2 this year, as Jinx's story and destruction will bring in even more Champions that we all love.