Riot Games is working on new titles that are meant to appeal to niche audiences, co-founder Marc “Tryndamere” Merrill revealed in an interview with Variety today.
The company released its flagship game League of Legends nine years ago. Since then, it has also created a board game and a slew of mini-games, all based in the League world. According to Merrill, however, none of those really put the “s” in Riot Games.
In order to expand Riot’s repertoire of IP, Merrill said the company is working to release a number of games each decade. He said they would be focused on a specific niche, much like League is, in order to promote each game’s lifespan.
“We think of League of Legends as a niche market that’s really focused,” he said. “There are lots of games people buy and play on the app store, steam library, on consoles. That creates a lot of interesting questions and challenges, but we focus on what would be worth someone’s time. That’s the only type of game we want to create: games with longevity—that’s worth your time.”
Last year, Merrill and fellow co-founder Brandon “Ryze” Beck announced they would be stepping back from managing the company in order to focus on game development, and recently Merrill asked fans on Twitter if they would be interested in a League-themed MMO. While that specific game may never be released, Merrill said his tweet was a good indication of the interest players had in a wider variety of games.
“It felt like an opportune time to check the pulse of the community,” he said. “To ask, ‘What do you think about this? Should we do this or not?’ It was a surprise to hear so many people interested and passionate about the idea.”
Diehard League fans have nothing to worry about, however. Merrill said the company will still dedicate time and resources to update the game even when creating new ones.
