Riot Hits Reset On League Of Legends MMO, With No News For Years To Come

The in-development League of Legends MMO set in the world of Runeterra is going back to the drawing board, and as such will be "going dark" likely for "years to come," according to Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill.

Merrill took to X to make the announcement, stating in a thread of posts that development on the game, which has been in development since at least 2020, has been "reset."

"After a lot of reflection and discussion, we've decided to reset the direction of the project some time ago," Merrill said. "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."

Leading the charge on the MMO's new direction is ex-Bioware and EA developer Fabrice Condominas, who will serve as the game's new executive producer. Merrill said he "brings a fresh perspective and a shared commitment to excellence that will guide our team as they continue on this difficult journey."

As a result of the direction change, Merrill said news about the project, which was already scarce to begin with, will be "going dark" for what will likely be several years. However, no news is good news, he said, as silence means the team is hard at work "pouring our heart and souls into making something that we hope you'll love."

The League of Legends MMO lost its previous executive producer, ex-Blizzard and World of Warcraft veteran Greg Street, last year. Street worked at Riot for over nine years but left to form his own studio, Fantastic Pixel Castle. The studio is currently working on an MMO codenamed Ghost.

Street offered his own comments on the League of Legends MMO's new direction, and said he wishes the project well and that he will "definitely play the crap out of it." That being said, he stated how his new studio's development process differs from that of Riot, and cited the reasons he founded his own studio.

"Two of the reasons I founded my own studio are (1) I don't want to take 10 years to develop a game, and (2) I want to develop in the open with players along for the journey," Street said. "Neither strategy is right or wrong. I just know my current approach plays to our studio's strengths. No going dark here."

Prior to his departure from Riot, Street offered various details about the direction of the League of Legends MMO, like how it would respect players' time. He even said there was "no guarantee" the game would ever be released, as the team wouldn't ship a game it thought would "disappoint players."