Riot Games takes stock of the development of its MMO, and it’s not positive

Riot Games has announced that its MMO project is still in development, but the game is “changing direction” and will “lay low” to focus on the work ahead.

Riot Games has been developing an MMO alongside its third-party projects and live service updates for its flagship games Valorant, TFT and League of Legends since 2020.

Few details are known about the game, with Riot not having announced many details outside of a change of producers in 2023. The company also suffered massive layoffs in January 2024, which led it to cancel Riot Forge and other projects, leaving development of the MMO up in the air.

But recently, Riot co-founder and CPO Marc Merrill announced on social media that the project was still in progress “but will be lying low for a long time, probably several years.”

Riot’s MMO will be discreet while working in the background

“After much thought and discussion, we decided to reset the direction of the project some time ago. This decision was not easy, but it was necessary,” Merrill said.

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…

— Tryndamere (@MarcMerrill) March 20, 2024

The Riot leader also introduced the game’s new executive producer, Fabrice Condominas. The original vision for the game was too similar to what other MMOs offer, and the goal is to create something that is a “significant evolution of the genre,” according to Merrill.

During this “discreet” period, the team will continue to work in silence and will be given the space necessary to create Riot Games’ new game. The developer did something similar for Valorant during its development, since details around Project A were scarce before it was revealed to the general public.

“We understand the excitement and anticipation surrounding new information, but we ask that you trust us during this silent phase. Remember, ‘no news is good news,’ that means we’re working hard,” Merrill said.

Just like with the initial announcement of the project, Riot decided to communicate this major information via social networks and not their official website.