There is trouble in League of Legends. For years, LoL was the only game for Riot Games, now the studio has multiple irons in the fire with Valorant, the new LoL MMORPG, and mobile versions of LoL. Players accuse the developers of neglecting LoL and putting the PC version into maintenance mode. One of the key developers of LoL, Ryan “Reav3” Mireles, is not taking this lightly.
What’s making LoL players so angry right now? Well, on one hand, it’s LoL players, who don’t need a concrete reason to be angry at Riot. “Anger and frustration” are actually the normal state of a MOBA player, as seen with streamer Tyler1. But there are specific points of criticism:
- The new hype video “Brink of Infinity,” which was supposed to get players excited for the season, has generally been rated as really bad. Because this was not a cool cinematic like in previous years, but rather an audiobook
- There are also too few new champions coming to LoL, it’s said – There are missing champion reworks, there are balance issues, and criticisms are raised
- Players accuse Riot: LoL has lost its status as a “flagship” game, is only in maintenance mode, while Riot pursues many new projects that didn’t even exist a few years ago. Suddenly, people view projects like Wild Rift suspiciously and believe that Riot is neglecting PC LoL.
Official apology fizzles out
What does Riot say? There was an official apology from Riot for why the 2023 video wasn’t great. They were trying something new and didn’t use the action-packed cinematics like before. They wanted to show the “world” now.
They should have communicated that better. That was poorly done.
Pretty typical “corporate” talk. This only made the criticism worse.
Riot has stopped making content for the game. They apparently don’t care anymore, it was said on Twitter.
Developer says: lost many good employees during Covid
What does an employee say? One of the important developers of LoL, Ryan “Reavge3” Mireles speaks frankly on Reddit. He responds to the criticism that “PC-LoL is in maintenance mode”:
I can understand why people come to this conclusion, but I can assure you it’s not the case. […] Like many companies, we lost a lot of talented people during Covid, employees took the opportunity to work from home to pursue a different path in life. It was tough for the whole industry, a hard blow, and it was no different at Riot. It is not because Riot significantly cut the budget or limited the prospects for LoL.
To put it more elegantly: Shit happens.
In LoL, a lot of time has recently been invested in things that won’t come to the game immediately. But Mireles says: He knows that his words won’t change the impression; action is needed.
He assures that the team continues to work hard on LoL.
What’s behind this: What Mireles refers to is the so-called “Great Resignation,” also known as “the Big Quit”: Covid was a deceleration for many people from their normal lives.
Everyday life changed due to the lockdown: Suddenly, one was no longer trapped in the stress of the office, but sat at home and had time to think about whether they were truly satisfied with life “before Covid” or if it was time for something new. The opportunity to do something completely different, to work more autonomously, to spend more time with friends and family.
Some, particularly high-performing employees, did not want to return to their old lives after the measures ended but instead wanted to embark on a new path. Apparently, in the course of this reflection, many developers from LoL also resigned and now need to be replaced.
For the video game industry, the transition to home office was a major challenge everywhere:
Destiny 2 is now being developed from home – Bungie closes studios due to Corona
