Riot co-founder says League of Legends MMO commitment is stronger than ever, despite nearly buying Ashes of Creation

Riot Games is doubling down on its in-development League of Legends MMO, with co-founder Marc Merrill telling GamesRadar that the studio is "more committed to" the project "than ever." The statement comes at an interesting moment, given the recent collapse of Ashes of Creation's development.

According to GamesRadar, Riot actually considered acquiring Ashes of Creation at some point during its development lifecycle. The company ultimately decided against the purchase, choosing instead to continue building its own MMO from the ground up rather than folding an external project into its pipeline.

Why the Ashes of Creation pass matters

The fact that Riot even explored buying Ashes of Creation tells you something about how seriously the company is taking the MMO space. Building an MMO from scratch is a notoriously brutal undertaking - one that has humbled studios far larger than Riot - so scouting potential shortcuts makes strategic sense.

That said, passing on the acquisition and reaffirming internal development suggests Riot believes its own vision for the Runeterra MMO is the right one. Merrill's comments, as reported by GamesRadar, carry the kind of deliberate confidence you'd expect from a studio trying to calm community concerns rather than hype a near-term release.

A long road ahead

The League of Legends MMO has been in some stage of development for years, with relatively little public-facing progress to show. Former game director Greg Street (Ghostcrawler) departed the project back in 2023, which rattled fan confidence at the time. Riot has kept details close to the chest since.

For fans of the Runeterra setting, the renewed commitment from the top is welcome news - even if a release date remains firmly off the table. The League universe is one of the richest in gaming, spanning champions, regions, and years of lore that an MMO could tap into in a massive way.

Whether Riot can actually deliver on that potential is still the open question. MMOs are a different beast entirely from the live-service games Riot has shipped successfully, and the genre's history is littered with well-funded casualties. But with the co-founder personally vouching for the project's direction, at least the game appears to still be very much alive and moving forward.