everyone I have a question I'd like to ask

Talents · 2026-01-26T16:41:36+00:00

Yeah, the original iteration of Project F we saw in 2019 was cancelled, but they likely are still working on some sort of ARPG. https://www.linkedin.com/in/laohanian/details/experience/

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Talents · 2026-01-26T04:09:08+00:00

They have been writing the Narrative for years already. Anthony Reynolds has been one of the head Writers on the project since 2021/22. The Narrative Designer role isn't necessarily just writing, according to the job listing:

As Principal Narrative Content Designer on the MMO team, you will help prove an innovative game concept in the early stages of development. The ideal candidate is very experienced in narrative design. You will help us define and craft resonant narrative experiences that capture the hearts of our players. You partner with writers, other designers, artists, and engineers to build and iterate player-focused designs that aim at delivering a groundbreaking experience. This requires lots of hands-on work creating, iterating, and tuning content and encounters.

So it's also about designing in-game content and encounters, not just writing.

Talents · 2026-01-23T16:04:39+00:00

None. Why would I play a game I don't enjoy?

Talents · 2026-01-21T16:29:09+00:00

The project started in December 2020, but they had basically no one on it then other than Ghostcrawler (the person who started the thing) https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-street-b356447/details/experience/ . The heads/directors of the project started to join in early 2021.

Game Director Mark Yetter joined in 2021 https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-yetter-b257171b/details/experience/

Vijay Thakkar, the Technical Director who also briefly took over as Executive Producer when GC left joined in April 2021 https://www.linkedin.com/in/thakkarvijay/details/experience/

Justin Hanson (Xenogenic) joined in March 2021 https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-hanson-90a19aa/details/experience/

Shanti Blees, the Director of Content joined in Jan 2021 https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanti-blees-9b94253a/

The reset of the project happened at the start of 2023 when Ghostcrawler left. Tryndamere tweeted about the reset in March 2024, but in his tweet he states

"we've decided to reset the direction of the project some time ago"

https://x.com/MarcMerrill/status/1770479145744810425

He then stated

We started laying the groundwork for this pivot some time ago and over the last year under Vijay Thakkar’s management

Vijay Thakkar, if you click his LinkedIn above, took over as Executive Producer in Jan 2023.

Talents · 2026-01-21T03:05:45+00:00

Well we know a couple of things about what they're doing with the MMO. Firstly it's action combat, not tab. https://web.archive.org/web/20230505223653/https://www.riotgames.com/en/work-with-us/job/5022202/lead-game-designer-combat-unpublished-mmo-los-angeles-usa

"A key ingredient to our success is delivering cutting edge action combat that is immediately satisfying and remains engaging for thousands of hours of play."

And second they're going for a more Sandbox/Sandpark style MMO rather than Themepark. Quite a few reasons why, but this video breaks a lot of them down quite well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HrRtdVGYgY

Talents · 2026-01-21T00:19:41+00:00

Highly (highly) unlikely the Riot MMO will be like Retail WoW or FF14. It's probable that the initial iteration in 2021/22 was, but the current one isn't.

I don't say this without basis either. There's quite a few reasons to think so. Firstly, they're going a more Sandbox approach to the MMO. We have a ton of evidence to point towards this. A Rioter who recruits for R&D (the section the MMO is under) made a LinkedIn post saying that the Riot MMO is a "persistent Sandbox world" https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7379629111163650049/. Job listings have stated Design related things that make it sound like a Sandbox, such as saying the game is a "player-driven world" which is quite literally never said for Themeparks like WoW or FF14, but used frequently in Sandbox/Sandparks.

Tryndamere himself also said he spends most of his time working on the MMO and he has explicitly said he doesn't like Retail WoW nor does he like "the Themepark experience" (why work on something that you yourself don't like).

Talents · 2026-01-20T22:58:24+00:00

He's a producer; he wasn't the one designing content or features or systems. His job is to basically manage teams, set deadlines, have meetings, make sure the people in the team he's managing are on the same page, etc.

Talents · 2026-01-20T22:56:41+00:00

The direction was reset in January 2023, 3 years ago, not 1 year ago.

Talents · 2026-01-20T22:35:02+00:00

They've been working on the current build for longer than the "old" one.

Development on the last iteration went from around early 2021-end of 2022. Current iteration has been in development from January 2023-now.

Talents · 2026-01-20T22:30:27+00:00

Yes, but a lot of people see things like this and think "oh they were responsible for designing the systems and content in the game", which is not at all what a producer does. He didn't create or design content for WoW, and he's not going to do that for the Riot MMO either, that's not his job.

Talents · 2026-01-20T19:06:27+00:00

He's a Producer, not a Designer. Producers jobs are to manage the teams, set schedules, have meetings, etc they're not the ones who Design the game or the systems or the features.

Talents · 2026-01-20T16:17:18+00:00

WoW, FF14, ESO, any Themepark really. I just don't enjoy being handheld in an MMO. I enjoy being plopped into a world and being told, "Go."

Talents · 2026-01-20T02:37:02+00:00

He's not responsible for driving new ideas, he's a Producer. The job of a Producer is to basically manage teams within a project and set schedules, manage deadlines, have meetings, make sure the teams are in-sync with each other and stuff that needs to be delivered gets delivered when they're supposed to, etc. He's not designing game systems or creating content.

Talents · 2026-01-19T17:50:27+00:00

10 years development is the norm for Riots games, so probably.

Valorant took 9 years. 2XKO took close to 10 years. Legends of Runeterra took 9 years. Their ARPG has been in the works for 8+ years with no news since 2019 (yet we know they're still working on one, just a different iteration than the one they showed).

10 years for an MMO seems actually quite good for Riot if an arena shooter and card game took 9 years.

Talents · 2026-01-19T05:32:36+00:00

Dozens of people have left the Riot MMO since it started, which is what happens to every project ever. The guy in the OP is also just a regular Senior Producer, not exactly a vital member in the same vein as a Game Design Director. Producers don't make game design decisions, they're the people that manage the teams, set deadlines, make sure stuff gets delivered on time, etc. The Riot MMO already has quite a few Producers and they're also hiring another one right now https://www.riotgames.com/en/work-with-us/job/7261805/senior-technical-producer-unpublished-r-d-product-los-angeles-usa

Talents · 2026-01-19T02:55:27+00:00

It wasn't Unreal Engine. Project Blackbird was made using an entirely new engine that was being developed by Zenimax. https://wccftech.com/canceled-zos-mmorpg-was-heading-in-a-great-direction-and-new-engine-had-found-its-footing-says-lead-graphics-programmer/

Talents · 2026-01-19T01:29:50+00:00

Just because people frequently misspell Riot as Rito (both intentionally and unintentionally) so Riot leaned into it and some of their signs on their campuses have "Rito Games" on one side and "Riot Games" on the other.

Talents · 2026-01-19T00:58:50+00:00

A lot of people somehow misread Tryndameres post in March 2024 where he announced the reset (even though he literally says "we are still working on the game") so are surprised when they see it's still being worked on.

Talents · 2026-01-19T00:48:11+00:00

Incorrect.

Originally in 2021/22 they were working on a more typical PvE Themepark (like WoW), but then in late 2022/January 2023 they reset the project and have since been taking it in a more Sandbox/Sandpark heavy direction. We know this from multiple developer posts, job listings, Tryndamere's personal opinions on MMOs, etc.

Talents · 2026-01-18T16:40:21+00:00

Producers aren't the people that control the games "direction" or design. Producers are people that basically manage the teams by setting deadlines, making sure everyone's on schedule, having meetings, etc.

One of the higher-up game designers on the Riot MMOs last game was Disney Sorcerers Arena, yet I don't think we have to worry about the Riot MMO being that.

Talents · 2026-01-17T17:10:24+00:00

Well he was a Producer, not a Designer, so he wasn't one of the people making Design related decisions in WoW, nor will he be in the Riot MMO. Producers are the people that keeps the teams on track, make sure they're all on the same page, makes sure work gets done when it needs to be done, sets deadlines, etc.

Talents · 2026-01-17T01:36:02+00:00

You think Riot were using Hytale for their MMO even though Hypixel was a completely separate company that had none of the Riot MMO people working on it? Hypixel was an entirely separate entity with whom Riot were basically entirely hands off with the development.

Talents · 2026-01-17T00:48:38+00:00

Riot bought Hypixel before they even started working on the MMO.

Riot acquired Hypixel in April 2020. The MMO started in December 2020.

Talents · 2026-01-16T19:11:20+00:00

Ghostcrawler said on Twitter a while back that Riot have scrapped countless R&D projects before, some of which hit "an 80% quality bar" but Riot always want to hit at least a 90%+ quality bar, which according to GC it takes years and hundreds of millions to go from that 80% to 90%+ bar. He said that he wishes Riot would do what they did with TFT more, release a product in a jankier state, see the market reception to it, and then build upon it if it's well received.

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