Riot Games has been planning a new MMORPG in the world of League of Legends for years. However, development was reset and restarted in March 2024. Now, the founder of Riot Games, Marc Merrill, talks about the reasons.
Who is speaking? Marc “Tryndamere” Merrill co-founded Riot Games with Brandon “Ryze” Beck in 2006. Merrill was the long-time president of Riot Games and is now the chairman, but has also been actively involved in development again since 2017.
His nickname comes from his character in the MMORPG Everquest. The LoL character Tryndamere is named after him; the archer Ashe got her name from his wife, Ashley.
What was he asked? The magazine Gizmodo asked him in an interview on December 11, 2024, about the implications of the MMORPG development for League of Legends being reset.
With the Netflix series Arcane, Riot Games has made many fans even more eager for an MMORPG in the fascinating world of Runeterra:
Reset has increased the chance of the LoL MMORPG being a hit
This is what Merrill responded: The reset has dramatically increased the likelihood of success. He fundamentally believes in the quote from Ed Catmull, who said, “You can give a mediocre team a great idea, and they’ll execute it mediocrely. You can give a great team a mediocre idea, and they’ll make it great.”
He has to ensure that they have great teams with a great vision, perspective, and direction. And if that is not the case, then their ability to create something that meets the high expectations of the audience is virtually nil.
Merrill further explains that there is incredibly much content in the world: content on social media, content in streaming, tons of games… much of the world doesn’t need more mediocre content. It needs great things.
Riot only wants to release great games – otherwise, nothing
This is what Merrill says about Riot’s goals: Therefore, Riot needs to focus on doing a few special things that are great. It starts with people and the team, with direction and alignment on this specific strategy and with what needs to happen to achieve it.
At Riot, they are capable of doing this – thanks to the games they have created so far, the huge community they have built, and thanks to the IP they have invested in building for 18 years.
For Merrill, it is clear that fans want to roam around in the world of Runeterra. The developers want that too. Therefore, they take the responsibility very seriously to deliver something great that can meet all expectations – and everything that happens, including the realignment and reset, is aimed at meeting those expectations.
Better to not release than to do it wrong
What lies behind this: Unfortunately, Merrill does not reveal any real details here but gives the “most positive” answer possible: We would rather release nothing than a game that falls short of our own expectations. This is reminiscent of the old Blizzard.
In fact, it seems that the departure of the spiritual father behind the MMORPG, Ghostcrawler, played a larger role in the reset. He left Riot Games in March 2023 because they wanted him to work in the office, while he preferred to stay with his family.
Ultimately, Merrill says something like: “The original version was not as great as we expect from the MMORPG. Therefore, we started over to ensure that it is truly great – and we have enough money anyway, so we can take our time.”
More about the MMORPG from Riot Games, which takes place in the world of LoL but has no name yet, can be found here: The LoL-MMO is alive, seeking veterans for development, and aims to “excite millions of players worldwide”
