Over the past several years Riot Games has expanded its game offerings significantly. Following the success of League of Legends, Riot has launched projects including Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra, League of Legends: Wild Rift, and Valorant. It also has several upcoming games, the most highly anticipated being a League of Legends MMO. Riot's executive producer for the League of Legends MMO has a warning, though, saying there's "no guarantee" that it's going to ship.Before any League of Legends or MMO fans leap to conclusions, the message from Riot's Greg Street was more of a precautionary acknowledgment of how game development works — and particularly game development at Riot. Street is not saying that the League of Legends MMO is in danger. Rather, he's saying that the League of Legends MMO will only be delivered if and when it's done and meets all expectations. Riot has its work cut out for itself.The message from Street reads, "There is no guarantee this game will ship. We are optimistic, but you never know until it does." He later reponds to a fan asking what could cause Riot to cancel the MMO by saying, "If it's not good. If we think it will disappoint players. We don't want to be a game that is hyped for 2 weeks and then fades from view." Exactly what promoted Street to make these posts isn't clear, but he did later clarify that it wasn't because of any abnormal worry over the project's status.
If there is an unwritten message in Street's posts, it's that making an MMO is very challenging. To start, they are incredibly expensive due to their size and the development resources necessary to get them not only to launch day, but beyond. MMOs like 38 Studios' Project Copernicus, Blizzard's Titan, and Everquest Next never saw the light of day. Then there are MMOs that launched but weren't able to maintain an audience, like WildStar, Warhammer Online, Marvel Heroes, The Matrix Online, and even Club Penguin.
There's also the fact that Riot holds itself to a very high standard when it comes to anything it releases. It was ten years after League of Legends launched that it delivered its second game, Teamfight Tactics. It's also very much taking its time before sharing any information on its previously announced but unreleased projects, including the Project L fighting game and Project F ARPG.
The League of Legends MMO is likely currently in its riskiest development state, where Riot is still figuring out everything that the game will be, the resources it will require, and whether it can be fun and successful. Then it actually has to make that game. It's only natural for developers like Street to worry about the challenges ahead. He, like League of Legends fans, seems excited for the project's future.
The League of Legends MMO is currently in development.