For the past couple of years, Riot Games has really grown and broadened its horizons. Thanks to how successful its online battle arena League of Legends has become, the developer and publisher began releasing other titles outside of that genre.
Some of the titles it has released so far include Valorant, Legends of Runeterra, and Teamfight Tactics — video game titles that offer vastly different gameplay experiences, each of which found success in their respective genres. Then there’s Ruined King and the rumored Project L and Projekt F, Riot Games titles that offer even more diversity.
Now, it appears that the company is more than ready to dive into another genre, one that is even more complex than the previous titles. More specifically, it has been confirmed that Riot Games is currently working on an MMO.
Given the fact that this came as such a shock to many of us, you would think that Riot would announce this via a trailer or perhaps even a press event. However, this wasn’t the case for this mystery game.
The fact that Riot Games is developing an MMO was revealed in the simplest way possible: through a tweet. For a little bit of context, the tweet was posted by Riot Games’ VP of IP Greg Street aka Ghostcrawler. He initially announced the exciting news that the company is currently developing something, even stating at the end that they’re hiring right now.
One fan who goes by the Twitter handle @RichelleLOL asked if the new project was going to be an MMO, to which Street casually confirmed that it was. The nonchalant reply is all we need as confirmation and leaves no room for doubts and speculation.
In addition, Street also mentioned in his tweet that while he was responsible for the development of League of Legends’ universe, he now has a new job and therefore a new responsibility. He specifically states in the tweet that his “new job is to kick off a big (some might say massive) game” that many fans have been asking for Riot Games to develop.
He goes on to imply that it’s going to be a game that many League of Legends fans, specifically, will be thrilled about. It’s safe to say that Street isn’t trying to be remotely subtle here, as the word “massive” already implies that the new project is going to be an MMO.
I have news!
My recent job at Riot has been to help develop the League universe, which we’re going to need!
Because it is time. My new job is to kick off a big (some might say massive) game that many of you, and many Rioters, have been asking us to create.
PS We’re hiring
— Greg Street (@Ghostcrawler) December 18, 2020
It is an MMO
— Greg Street (@Ghostcrawler) December 18, 2020
That being said, Greg Street is right — League of Legends fans have been asking Riot Games to create an MMO for a while now. The founder of Riot Games, Marc Merill, said less than a year ago that if the company were to develop an MMO, it wouldn’t be “any time soon.”
However, it’s possible that the company was already starting to lay out the groundwork for potentially creating an MMO title. As such, it makes sense why the developer is confident enough to reveal this fact to the fans now seeing as it’s already ready to move onto a different phase in its development.
It is worth noting that while it has been implied that the MMO will be connected to the League of Legends universe, Street doesn’t explicitly say this. There’s still a chance that the company is working on something else entirely, but until Riot Games publishes an official press release, we won’t know for sure.
