Even the League of Legends MMO's lead developers aren't sure if it'll ever ship

Ruined King
(Image credit: Riot Games)

The upcoming League of Legends MMO currently in development at Riot is "going great" but still might end up not shipping, the game’s executive producer says. 

In a recent tweet, Greg Street said: "A few weeks ago I made a tweet where I intended to emphasize what a commitment I had made to this MMO. Some players and media latched onto the "might never ship" part and extrapolated that the development was not going well. Spoiler: It is going great. This team is so stacked."  

It seems like there's a bit of confusion surrounding the upcoming game, which was quietly announced by developer Riot back in 2020. Things have been made slightly more baffling by Street's tweets however with fans questioning whether or not the game will ever ship at all. 

Following on from this, Street also replied in a thread explaining how regardless of how good development is currently going, "there is no guarantee any game in this business will ship." Before going on to emphasize the fact that "[Riot] won’t ship a disappointing game. (We also won’t crunch just to make sure the game is as good as it can be.)"

The next tweet in the thread appears to muddy the waters even more as Street then goes on to say: "Do I think Riot will launch an MMO at some point? Absolutely. There are so many good reasons to do it. Maybe I am not the right leader, or this is not the right team, or our design isn’t the right one. But the company will keep at it until the game is worthy of your expectations."

There's a touch of humility to Street's posts that's certainly admirable. That said, the decision to tell fans that the project they're excited for might never see the light of day - despite Riot having spent many years talking about it - is an odd one. Game development has plenty of ups and downs, but it's rare to see those realities portrayed in quite so stark a manner. 

For now, it’s best for fans to remain patient and leave the League of Legends MMO in the developer’s capable hands. Street also showed appreciation for fans that are already excited for the game in the final tweet of the thread by saying: "Thanks for your support and patience. We got you."

Looking for something to play in the meantime? Take a look at our best MMORPG list for inspiration.  

CATEGORIES
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.  

With contributions from
Read more
Arcane
4 years later, the League of Legends MMO remains a major project for Riot Games' co-founder who says it's "exactly the type of company" that should be making MMOs
League of Legends
The League of Legends MMO "reset" earlier this year, but Riot Games' co-founder says it only "dramatically increased the likelihood of success"
World of Warcraft: Worldsoul Saga trailer still
World of Warcraft and League of Legends MMO veteran says he saw Riot and Blizzard "seemingly abandon" approaching development "from a place of humility instead of arrogance"
League of Legends
Amid live-service flops, Riot co-founder says player expectations are "going up," while League and Valorant thrive from the competition: "We have to calibrate constantly"
Supervive
As League of Legends fans reel over loot controversy, fans of ex-Riot devs' hot new MOBA seize the chance to promote their game instead
League of Legends
Riot walks back controversial League of Legends changes: Hextech Chests, Exalted skins, and Blue Essence costs are all being reworked
Latest in League of Legends
Arcane
4 years later, the League of Legends MMO remains a major project for Riot Games' co-founder who says it's "exactly the type of company" that should be making MMOs
League of Legends
As League of Legends players blast 800-hour grinds, Riot says this "wasn't meant to get harder" and "we messed up" on the whole First Blood thing too
Arcane season 2
Arcane writer says "it was always our hope" to get a character from the show into League of Legends
Valorant
Riot Games cracks down on Valorant and League of Legends streamers who promote boosting, smurfing, and buying accounts
Arcane
Arcane season 2 has a bit of a canon problem – but as a 13-year League of Legends veteran, I can't bring myself to care
Viktor in Netflix's Arcane
After 3 years, Arcane's now responsible for a second League of Legends character revamp - this time it's a new Viktor
Latest in News
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Silent Hill f
After 2 years of silence, the next mainline Silent Hill game is getting a dedicated stream this week with "the latest news"
Original Xbox console
Former Microsoft exec says the first Xbox was killed early in favor of 360 because it was "losing money left right and center," but luckily "we could afford to hemorrhage cash"
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Despite Monster Hunter Wilds suffering monstrous performance problems on PC, it still outsold the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the US
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
A screenshot of Jordan drinking a soda during the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Hertic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "a game about faith and religion," which Neil Druckmann jokes will surely get less hate than The Last of Us 2