Riot Forging New Paths
On December 5, 2019, Riot Games launched its new publishing label, Riot Forge. Riot Games created the label to work with third-party studios in developing new games that expand the League of Legends universe. Just a week later on December 12, 2019, Riot Forge announced a new game in collaboration with Airship Syndicate, developer of Battle Chasers: Nightwar and Darksiders: Genesis. That game is Ruined King: A League of Legends Story, a story-driven, turn-based RPG starring some of the most iconic champions from League of Legends. More recently, Riot Forge released an official trailer for the game on October 31, 2020 and an expected game release period of early 2021.
Riot Forge also announced the development of CONV/RGENCE: A League of Legends Story immediately after revealing Ruined King in December 2019. CONV/RGENCE is in collaboration with Double Stallion Games, developer of Speed Brawl. Even less is known about this game, but what we do know is that it’s a single-player, action platformer game in which players will play as the time-manipulating League of Legends champion, Ekko, and explore the Runeterra region of Zaun.
This is all, of course, great news for fans of League of Legends. Both games have been very well received by the League of Legends community, even with very little known about either game. Fans are very excited to learn more about Runeterra from official lore while playing some of their favorite gaming genres. Why is the development of these games such important news? Well, for one, Ruined King will mark the first single-player game ever published by Riot. Secondly, the existence of Riot Forge and these games is expanding opportunities for independent video game development studios. Riot Games is rising up by branching out, and it is giving smaller studios the chance to rise with it, further cementing the precedent for independent developers working with large gaming companies. Riot Forge serves as a beacon of hope for both players and developers. Whether you’re excited for these new games or couldn’t care less, this is a great sign for the gaming industry.
