Riot Games still has an MMO in the works but co-founder just gave painful update

Riot Games still has an MMO in the works but fans eagerly awaiting the project shouldn’t hold their breath. The studio’s co-founder just gave a crushing new update to indicate it’s still lightyears away.

Five long years ago, Riot first unveiled its plans to conquer practically every major genre in the gaming industry. From a TCG to a fighting game, and yes, even an MMO, the League of Legends developer held nothing back in showcasing its ambitious roadmap.

Since then, while some projects have been named, like the fighting game now known as 2XKO, others haven’t been in the spotlight whatsoever. Chief among those is the mysterious MMO project as Riot has remained tight-lipped in subsequent years even as key staff depart the team.

Now, however, studio co-founder Marc Merrill has broken silence on the project, though it’s not great news for fans keen on the game. There’s a chance man will step foot on Mars before man steps foot in Riot’s MMO.

Riot Games’ highly-anticipated MMO is still lightyears away

Since the 2020 announcement, Riot’s MMO has been percolating in the background. Meanwhile, the likes of Valorant, TFT, and LoL have all remained at the forefront, soaking up the spotlight.

Four years on from the reveal, Merrill announced on X (formerly Twitter) that the MMO hit a rough patch and was effectively being “reset.” As a result, he announced the dev team would be “going dark for a long time – likely several years. This decision wasn’t easy, but it was necessary.”

Now, speaking on the project for the first time since, Merrill sat down with Game File’s Stephen Totilo. During this conversation, he assured the MMO is still the “project I personally spend the most time on,” assuring fans he’s extremely eager to help it reach the market as well.

“We’ve been investing so much for so long,” he stressed, “Sort of growing this world and adding dimensions. People want to run around the world of Runeterra. And so we want to help them do that, in ways that are worth it and meaningful to them.”

And while these comments shed light on the ongoing support from Riot, Merrill followed up by saying the MMO may not be done for quite some time yet.

“As for when? “Hopefully before we go to Mars,” Merrill joked.

Obviously, this is merely an off-handed comment, but it’s evident Riot’s MMO is nowhere close to launching to the general public. If taken to heart, that could mean around another decade of waiting. Which will come first, humanity’s first manned mission to Mars or an MMO bound to sap humanity’s productivity like never before? We’ll all just have to wait and see.