Riot Games co-founder Mark Merrill has publicly admitted that developing a long-awaited MMORPG based on the League of Legends universe looks crazy from a common sense perspective.
Speaking on the Lemonade Stand podcast, he noted that the industry has many reasons not to embrace the project: the genre is considered niche, the target audience is older and has less free time, and competition from giants like World of Warcraft is still huge.
But what’s most important to the company right now, according to Merrill, is an army of loyal fans formed by more than 20 years of developing the Runeterra universe, as well as financial stability and experience. Management is aware of all the difficulties and will not risk diluting the uniqueness of the project by making “a game for everyone”. With fighting game 2XKO recently on hiatus, fans are wary of the news, but Riot believes the “pursuit of the Holy Grail” will be worth it.
Do you think Riot Games will be able to conquer the hard-to-enter MMORPG market, or will this massive project follow the fate of other failed attempts to challenge the genre’s eternal leader?