Riot Games gives disappointing update on MMO game’s development

Riot Games has announced that its MMO project is still in development, but the game is “pivoting” in a new direction and “going dark” to focus on the work ahead.

Riot Games has been developing an MMO in the background alongside its third-party projects and live service updates for its bread-and-butter titles Valorant, TFT, and League of Legends since 2020.

Not much is known about the game, as Riot has not announced many details outside of a change in producers in 2023. The company also underwent massive layoffs in January 2024, which caused them to cancel Riot Forge and other projects, leaving the MMO’s development in limbo.

Riot’s Co-Founder and CPO Marc Merrill announced on social media that the project will continue to be worked on: “but will be ‘going dark’ for a long time—likely several years.”

Riot MMO “going dark” while working in the background

“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,” Merrill said.

The Riot executive also announced the game’s new Executive Producer, Fabrice Condominas. The game’s original vision 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.

While “dark” the team will continue to work in silence and be given space to create the new Riot Games title. The developer did a similar thing for Valorant during its development, as details around Project A were scarce before it was revealed to the public.

“We understand the excitement and anticipation that surrounds new information, but we ask for your trust during this silent phase. Remember, ‘no news is good news,’ as it means we’re hard at work,” Merrill said.

Similar to the project’s initial announcement, Riot has decided to give this massive update via social media instead of their official channels.