Riot Games has confirmed that its anticipated League of Legends MMO project is still happening, though it won't be seen for a while following an internal creative reset.
That comes from LoL co-creator Mark Merrill on Twitter, who says the project's direction was reset a while ago to ensure fans don't end up with a basic MMO with a "Runeterra coat of paint."
"After a lot of reflection and discussion, we've decided to reset the direction of the project some time ago," he says. "This decision wasn't easy, but it was necessary. The initial vision just wasn't different enough from what you can play today.
"We don't believe you all want an MMO that you've played before with a Runeterra coat of paint; to truly do justice to the potential of Runeterra and to meet the incredibly high expectations of players around the world, we need to do something that truly feels like a significant evolution of the genre."
With that, Merrill reveals that EA and BioWare veteran Fabrice Condominas is now the executive producer of the MMO to help get the project where it needs to go. That said, don't expect to hear too much about the game for "a long time."
"Resetting our development path also means we will be 'going dark' for a long time – likely several years," Merrill adds. "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 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, pouring our hearts and souls into making something that we hope you'll love."
Initially revealed over three years ago, the MMO was being headed up by World of Warcraft veteran Gregg Street, who went on to depart before several other staff on the project followed. It's been a couple of years largely bereft of updates, let alone positive ones, leading our own Ali Jones to "get really worried about my most-anticipated MMO." While Riot's message today aims to calm those fears, it could be a couple more nervous years indeed.
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