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Riot’s League MMO Remains a Risky Quest the Studio Refuses to Abandon

Co-founder Marc Merrill said Riot had no launch date to share, but still sees its League MMO as a worthy quest after the studio's 2024 reset.

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Stylized League of Legends character with purple hair and glowing magenta magic in her raised hand

Riot Games is treating its long-running League of Legends MMO as a gamble worth taking, but the studio still has no public title, release date, or gameplay details to share. At PAX West 2026, co-founder and co-chairman Marc Merrill said the project was still moving forward despite the MMO genre’s brutal history, describing the chance to create a great game as a worthy quest. He also warned that “many a brave knight” could die while Riot pursues it.

Greg Miller of Kinda Funny Games asked Merrill whether he had any news about the MMO’s launch timing. Merrill said Riot understands what players want and must execute on those expectations. He added that the studio believes it is doing a reasonable job and that “the future’s incredibly bright.” Riot jokingly calls the project “The Grail” internally. “But fuck it, it’s The Grail, so let’s go,” Merrill said.

The full panel exchange is available below.

Riot first announced plans for the MMO in late 2020. The project changed course in March 2024, when Merrill said its original vision was not different enough from existing games. Riot has since added talent including former World of Warcraft lead combat designer Brian Holinka, giving the reset a clearer sense of purpose even though the studio has not shared a release window.

Merrill framed the central challenge around execution. Riot knows players already have strong expectations for a League-based MMO, but meeting them will require the team to solve thousands of small problems across the game. The scale of the task is part of what makes the project risky, yet it is also why the studio views the opportunity as worth pursuing.

Riot’s support decisions are now part of the MMO conversation

2XKO now hangs over any discussion of Riot’s long-term projects. After the fighting game’s full console launch in January 2026, Riot announced in August that active development would end in December. The game will remain playable, but Riot said not enough players had stayed with it to create a sustainable path forward and that it could not see a viable future for the project.

Legends of Runeterra adds another piece of context. In its 2024 player update, Riot said the digital card game had faced financial challenges since launch and cost more to develop and support than it generated. The company reduced the size of the team and renewed its focus on The Path of Champions, its player-versus-environment mode.

Those decisions have left some players questioning how Riot would support an MMO that fell short of the biggest games in the genre. One fan said it would be difficult to get excited if Riot cut the MMO team or ended support because the game failed to reach World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV numbers in its first month. Other reactions connected that concern directly to 2XKO, asking what confidence players should have in the MMO after Riot ended active development on a fighting game that had barely launched, while another fan hoped Riot would not cancel the MMO six months after release simply because it lacked the combined audience of those established games.

Riot has not shown enough of the MMO to judge whether it can reach that lofty goal, but Merrill’s comments make the studio’s attitude clear. The project is a dangerous bet, and Riot still believes the possible reward is worth taking it.

Do you think Riot can turn its “Grail” quest into a lasting MMO? Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

League of Legends is a fast-paced, competitive online game that blends the speed and intensity of an RTS with RPG elements. Two teams of powerful champions, each with a unique design and playstyle, battle head-to-head across multiple battlefields and game modes. With an ever-expanding roster of champions, frequent updates and a thriving tournament scene, League of Legends offers endless replayability for players of every skill level.