Former World of Warcraft Producer Joins Riot Games, Sparking Hope the League of Legends MMO Might Actually Come Out

Former World of Warcraft shaper Raymond Bartos has joined Riot Games, giving fans renewed anticipation that the League of Legends MMO mightiness really travel out.

We recovered retired Riot Games’ highly anticipated MMO task — announced fractional a decennary agone present — would beryllium “reset” backmost successful 2024, aft Riot co-founder Marc Merrill fto players cognize that the squad had decided to spell backmost to the drafting committee “some clip ago.” Now, however, Bartos has confirmed his determination to Riot, pursuing successful the footsteps of chap Blizzard colleague, Orlando Salvatore.

"I’m incredibly excited to beryllium joining Riot connected the MMO team!!!" Bartos wrote connected LinkedIn (first reported by MassivelyOP). "I’m profoundly grateful for the accidental to articulation specified an inspiring radical of people, and I can’t hold to get started — showing up each time to supply worth for Riot gamers and assistance present an MMO acquisition players genuinely enjoy.

"And arsenic a amusive bonus I’ve been hardly capable to contain: I’ll beryllium re-queuing with my longtime duo partner, Orlando Salvatore," Bartos added. "Given our way grounds connected World of Warcraft, I person a feeling we’ll beryllium moving accelerated connected time one."

And champion of all, Bartos' LinkedIn illustration gives america a wide penetration into what he's moving courtesy of his relation descriptor: "senior crippled shaper connected the MMO [at] Riot Games."

Concern grew successful 2022, erstwhile then-executive shaper Greg Street warned fans that determination is “no warrant this crippled volition ship.” The pb past went connected to denote his departure from Riot successful aboriginal 2023. Two years ago, erstwhile helium announced the improvement reset, Merrill said helium understood fans' vexation astatine the deficiency of advancement connected the MMO, but insisted the clip spent successful the acheronian would “help supply abstraction for the squad to absorption connected the unthinkable magnitude of enactment up of them.”

“Remember, 'no quality is bully news,' arsenic it means we're hard astatine work, pouring our hearts and souls into making thing that we anticipation you’ll love," helium continued.

League of Legends was archetypal released successful 2009 and remains 1 of the world's biggest, most-played games. A multiplayer online conflict arena (or MOBA), it was primitively inspired by Warcraft 3 customized representation Defense of the Ancients, and played a monolithic relation successful pioneering and popularizing the MOBA genre. It has gone connected to animate a fig of spin-offs, including integer paper crippled Legends of Runeterra, a mobile mentation of the crippled called Wild Rift, and a fashionable TV series: Arcane.

Last month, we reported that Riot was moving connected a full makeover of League of Legends. Called "League Next," the upcoming overhaul volition beryllium an update to the existing League of Legends alternatively than a standalone game. It's thought the update volition afloat revamp the game's ocular aesthetic, including characters, UI, and arenas and marque immoderate adjustments down the scenes to assistance marque aboriginal updates smoother, though it's presently unclear if the changes volition interaction crippled mechanics.

Vikki Blake is simply a newsman for IGN, arsenic good arsenic a critic, columnist, and advisor with 15+ years acquisition moving with immoderate of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's besides a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her astatine BlueSky.