League of Legends MMO: Riot Games Executive Producer shares juicy details

Over the past couple of years, Riot Games has made a concerted effort to expand the League of Legends universe beyond just the MOBA experience. In recent months, the studio has launched its strategic collectible card game, Legends of Runeterra, and its auto-chess battler, Teamfight Tactics.

Both are tremendous games and shining examples of how the League of Legends universe lends itself nicely to other genres. There’s also Ruined King: A League of Legends Story, a single-player turn-based roley-playing game. But perhaps the most intriguing game in development at Riot Games — and maybe this is because I grew up with Ultima Online and World of Warcraft — is a currently unnamed MMORPG.

First talked about back in December 2020, we don’t know much about this very excited project. But recently, Greg Street, Vice-President of IP and Entertainment at Riot Games, took to social media to share some very juicy morsels of details.

Don’t expect a release date or title or actual game mechanics. What he shared was more conceptual, and even a warning that not everyone is going to love every feature in it.

"One thing I can say about “unannounced” MMORPG is that you won’t all love every feature in it. We’re going to make some choices that you may not agree with. Players want different things in their games. That’s fine. Some of you (shudder) may not love the game at all. Also fine."

Street, didn’t mention anything specific, but did bring up the fact that he was a World of Warcraft developer and “loves dungeons and raids as a player.” This leads me to believe that the League of Legends MMO could be a throwback to the old-school dungeon-raiding experience of the past. You know, spending countless hours raiding and wiping, raiding and wiping, to learn the mechanics and then having to conquer the raid over the course of multiple days.

Raiding in MMOs today has gotten soft, and probably for good reason. As a father of two kids under five and with a full time job, I don’t have the time I once did to dedicate to MMOs. So perhaps I’m one of the people he’s talking about who might not agree with the design choices. While I understand that he could be talking about me, and acknowledge that they have a specific target in mind with their game, I’d still find it disappointing if accessibility were limited because I’m simply busy with every day life. As a huge League of Legends fan, I want to experience this universe in an MMO.