Riot Games announced a new publishing group working with proven third-party developers to create games that expand on the League of Legends universe.
The first initiative of its kind at Riot, Riot Forge will enhance the Riot Games Research and Development efforts. Riot recently announce eight big game and media projects under way to launch new internally developed games beyond its 10-year-old League of Legends online strategy game. And now Riot is planning on publishing games made outside of Riot.
The effort is part of a sea change at Riot that has been under way for a while. The Los Angeles company has 2,500 employees, but clearly not all of them are working on League of Legends, which after a decade still has 8 million concurrent players.
“We are humbled by our partner developers who are so passionate to work on games set in the LoL IP, which offers limitless potential with its expansive world and deep champion pool,” said Leanne Loombe, head of Riot Forge, in a statement. “We are sincerely committed to our developers’ long term success and together we aim to deliver great experiences for players of all types.”
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Above: Riot Forge concept art
Riot Forge will focus on developing “completable game experiences,” serving players who want to engage with the League of Legends universe in different genres on various platforms, while complementing the live service games being developed internally by Riot Games that were shared during its LoL 10 Year Anniversary celebration. Riot Forge partners closely with its third party developers to ensure they are supported by Riot’s teams to create fun, compelling and unique game experiences in their own voice within the League of Legends Universe.
“We are always looking for new ways to bring the World of Runeterra and its champions to new and existing audiences around the world,” said Greg Street, vice president of intellectual property and entertainment at Riot Games, in a statement. “There are so many talented game studios around the world that have exceptional experience and craft skills in all areas of game development, and we are really excited to work together to bring the LoL IP to new game experiences.”
With multiple titles in development, Riot Forge is the latest endeavor from Riot Games to expand the League of Legends universe for all players around the world. It will release new game experiences that have yet to be seen, complementing the multiple new titles debuted by Riot Games during its 10-year anniversary edition Riot event.
As League enters its second decade, Riot continues to evolve the game while delivering new experiences to players with Legends of Runeterra, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Teamfight Tactics, and multiple work-in-progress titles, while exploring the world of Runeterra through multimedia projects across music, comic books, and more.
Riot also recently settled a gender equity dispute with female employees and agreed to pay women employees who have been at the company for five years a total of $10 million.
