Marc Merrill Says Riot’s League MMO Shouldn’t Try to Please Everyone
Merrill says Riot waited until it had a global fanbase in the hundreds of millions and the resources to tackle an MMO, but the game still needs a focused identity.
Riot co-founder and Chief Product Officer Marc Merrill acknowledged that there are plenty of reasons not to make a League of Legends MMO. He still sees the challenge as worth taking on, with the world of Runeterra and its enormous fanbase giving Riot a reason to try.
During a conversation on the Lemonade Stand podcast, Aiden ‘Calvin’ McCaig asked how the MMO could serve older players with less time to grind and younger audiences who may not want the same long-term commitment. The discussion also raised the competition from established games such as World of Warcraft. Merrill agreed those concerns were real, but said developers still have choices in how they approach the genre.
Merrill replied, “I don’t disagree with a bunch of your concerns. There are all sorts of smart reasons why we shouldn’t do what we’re doing.”
Merrill said Riot has spent 20 years building Runeterra, and that players around the world have grown attached to its characters, world, and factions across League of Legends, Riftbound, and other games. He said the company did not want to enter the MMO space until it had a global fanbase in the hundreds of millions, strong revenue streams, and a strong team.
That audience gives Riot a reason to bring players into Runeterra, but it does not guarantee that the MMO will succeed. Merrill’s approach is not to build one game for every possible audience. Trying to please everyone can leave a game watered down and appealing to no one, so Riot still has to decide how to handle the MMO’s scale, expectations, and reputation as a niche genre while doing justice to its intellectual property.
Earlier changes to the project give that challenge a clear backdrop. Riot announced plans for the MMO in late 2020, then reset the project in March 2024 after Merrill said its original vision did not stand apart enough from existing games. The current emphasis on making a focused game for Runeterra addresses the same question from another angle, which is how to give the project an identity of its own.
Merrill also pointed to Riot’s past work on Teamfight Tactics, esports, and Arcane as examples of ambitious projects that drew internal doubts. He recalled people questioning why Riot would make an animated series, then said the team had to create something good enough to compete with the best shows, not only other game adaptations. His argument was that sensible objections do not automatically make a risky project a bad idea, but the finished work still has to meet a high bar.
Later, Brandon ‘Atrioc’ Ewing asked whether Merrill worried the MMO might “ruin lives.” Merrill laughed and said yes. The exchange acknowledged the time commitment associated with the genre, but the conversation offered no gameplay details or release window.
What would make a Runeterra MMO feel worth committing to for years? Follow us as Riot’s long-running project takes shape on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
