After the restart and layoffs at Riot in 2024, some fans of the MMORPG genre might wonder how the ambitious MMO project for League of Legends is doing. Now there has been a sign of life!
What kind of sign of life is this? On the career portal of Riot Games, two new jobs linked to the MMO project for League of Legends have recently appeared (via riotgames.com). On one hand, a Principal UX Designer is being sought, and on the other, a Staff Software Engineer for Unreal Tools.
From the two job descriptions, a few additional info nuggets can be gleaned:
- The Principal UX Designer is expected to develop innovative and player-centered UI designs that “excite millions of players around the world”.
- Both positions should be filled by veterans with six or seven years of experience in the industry, who have made a significant contribution to the development of at least one released game.
- The ideal candidate for the Principal UX Designer should have built a user interface for an MMO and be familiar with the universe of League of Legends.
No longer responsible for the LoL MMO is Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street, who is now working on the MMORPG “Ghost” with his own studio.
Layoffs apparently have no impact on the LoL MMO
Why were there question marks over the LoL MMO? After several years of development, Marc Merrill, the head of Riot Games, announced in March 2024 that they had to call for a restart for the MMO for League of Legends.
Already in March 2023, Project Lead Ghostcrawler left Riot Games and the MMORPG. Apparently, there were issues with the ability to work from home. Ghostcrawler wanted to be back with family after personal setbacks. He is now working with his own studio on the new MMORPG Ghost.
These setbacks this current gaming year were accompanied by two waves of layoffs. In early 2024, a substantial 530 employees had to leave. By mid-October, there were further layoffs affecting a total of 32 Riot employees (via eurogamer.net). It is reported that 27 of the 32 employees were working in the League of Legends team.
It seems that these two waves of layoffs have had no direct impact on the MMO project. The job postings underscore that work on the game continues. Due to the restart, it is unfortunately unclear what of all the information that Ghostcrawler had shared over the past years is still valid. If you would like to get an impression of what the LoL MMO was originally intended to be, take a look here: Everything we knew about the new MMORPG for LoL by March 2024
