League of Legends developer Riot Games will expand the universe of its massively popular online battle arena game with the help of other developers, through its newly launched publishing label Riot Forge.
Greg Street, Riot Games’ vice president of IP and entertainment, shared his excitement about Riot Forge through Twitter.
I have been fortunate to be a part of some truly amazing game franchises, but I joined them all after they launched.
Riot Forge is something I am proud to have helped create. We are now an indie game publisher! The story-based games you want in the League universe are coming!
— Greg Street (@Ghostcrawler) December 5, 2019
Riot Forge will create partnerships with smaller studios to developer more League of Legends games, with multiple titles already in development. The publishing arm will provide support to its studio partners, including localization, voiceovers, research, and marketing, as they work on expanding the lore-heavy universe of the popular multiplayer game.
“One of the key elements we often look for is the studio having previously shipped a great game or games,” Riot Forge head Leanne Loombe told The Verge regarding the publishing arm’s search for potential partners. She added that there is no specific genre being targeted, as the aim is to roll out a wide variety of League of Legends-based titles instead.
Loombe explained that Riot Forge will function as a supervisor, specifically in helping developers work with the deep lore of League of Legends. The studio partners will then have full control on how they wish to create and design their game based on the universe that Riot Games created.
According to the Riot Forge website, it will publish games for PCs, consoles, and mobile devices, but not every game will be available in all platforms.
Riot Forge has so far been secretive of its current partners and their projects, but League of Legends fans should look forward to The Game Awards 2019, where the first Riot Forge project will be revealed.
We're excited to welcome @riotgames to #TheGameAwards for the first time! Don't miss the first @riotforge developer announce their @leagueoflegends game live next Thursday night! Streaming globally around the world. pic.twitter.com/54OlHJdOtI
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 5, 2019
The launch of Riot Forge follows the series of new projects that were announced for Riot Games’ 10th anniversary. The developer is expanding from the MOBA genre with a collectible card game titled Legends of Runeterra, which uses characters and lore from League of Legends. There’s also a first-person, character-based tactical shooter codenamed Project Athat has drawn comparisons to Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Riot Games is also working on League of Legends: Wild Rift, which will bring the game to mobile devices and consoles in 2020. It will not be a direct port though, as the MOBA is being rebuilt specifically for its new platforms.
