Untitled Runeterra MMO

The Untitled Runeterra MMO (often referred to simply as "The Riot MMO") is an upcoming MMORPG developed by Riot Games and set in Runeterra, the fictional world of League of Legends. The game will be part of Riot's new unified Runeterra canon,^[1] alongside Arcane^[2] and Legends of Runeterra.^[3]

Riot Games announced the project on December 17, 2020.^[4] At the time, development was led by executive producer Greg Street (known as "Ghostcrawler").^[5]

Little is known about the game's features, although it reportedly has a "persistent sandbox world", "innovative gameplay concepts" and "action RPG elements".^[6][7] The game is confirmed to feature third person, as well as a focus on action combat as opposed to tab targeting. Greg Street also stated that a pay-to-play or subscription model would be unlikely, citing Riot's typical business model of creating free-to-play games supported by cosmetic microtransactions.^[8]

In early 2024, Riot Games co-founder and chief product officer Marc Merrill (known as "Tryndamere") announced that the project's direction had been partially reset after the team concluded that an earlier version was too similar to existing MMORPGs. Merrill also stated that Riot intended to limit public communication during development.^[9]

The game is currently expected to release "before 2030", according to co-founder Marc Merrill.^[10]

Early research and development on a League of Legends MMO began as early as 2016.^[11] On December 17, 2020, Greg Street (formerly the lead systems designer on World of Warcraft and a Rioter for 7 years), announced that Riot was making an MMO set in the League of Legends universe.^[12] This was followed by several posts on social media by other Riot employees announcing that they were searching for "MMO veterans" to join the team. In the months following the announcement, Riot provided limited public updates regarding the project.^[13]

In March 2023, Greg Street announced his departure from Riot, citing both personal and professional reasons, and stated that the project would continue under new leadership.^[14] Vijay Thakkar replaced Greg Street as the executive producer on the MMO until 2024. It is believed that the decision to reset the MMO was made around the time of Street’s departure, and Thakkar was placed in charge of preparing the technical foundations for future development as he previously served as the technical director.

In early 2024, Riot confirmed that development of the MMO had undergone a significant reset “some time ago”. According to Marc Merrill, the decision was made because the existing version of the game was too similar to other MMORPGs on the market.^[15] The company stated that it did not want to produce a game that mostly copied other MMOs with a Runeterra "coat of paint", and instead chose to partially restart development to pursue a more distinct direction. Merrill stated that Riot aims to create something that is "a significant evolution of the genre".^[13] This announcement was accompanied by news that Fabrice Condominas (known as "Faburisu") would act as the new executive producer on the MMO. Following the reset, Merrill stated that the project would "go dark", entering a period of limited public communication for several years, and reassured fans that "no news is good news."^[16]

On January 15 2026, Raymond Bartos (known as "GoodGuyRay"), a former lead producer on World of Warcraft, announced that he was joining the Runeterra MMO team as a senior game producer.^[7]

On April 15 2026, Riot confirmed that it had previously explored the possibility of investing in or acquiring Intrepid Studios, the developer of Ashes of Creation (another MMO that was in development at the time), but ultimately chose not to proceed with a deal.^[17]

On June 1st 2026, Brian Holinka, previously the lead combat designer on World of Warcraft responsible for class design and PvP content, announced that he was joining the Runeterra MMO team as a principal game designer.^[18]

In June 2026, MMO content creators Towelliee, Necrit and Oheyspun speculated on social media that the release window for the game would likely be between 2028 and 2030, and the discussion received a reply from executive producer Fabrice Condominas.^[19] Marc Merrill also reposted a tweet that compared the 2028 to 2030 window to the Mars missions.^[20]

The game is currently in active development, with Fabrice Condominas serving as the executive producer under supervision by Marc Merrill, who is "heavily involved in the new direction",^[21] and said that Riot is "more committed than ever" to developing its MMO.^[22]

The project remains without an official title or release date. No gameplay footage, screenshots, trailers, or MMO-exclusive artwork have been officially released or leaked to the public as of June 2026.^[23]

Runeterra, meaning "magic Earth" is a spheroid planet that orbits a G-type main sequence star with one moon.^[24] Only roughly one sixth of the planet's surface (located in the north west) constitutes the "known world", which serves as the setting for all of Riot's Runeterra properties. This known world has many distinct regions, cultures and races,^[25] all of which are expected to feature in the MMO eventually, although it is unlikely that every region will be explorable on launch.^[11]

• Demacia is a nationalist, militaristic monarchy built on the ideals of honor and justice. The nation has a deeply ingrained fear and persecution of magic within its borders.^[26]
• Noxus is a brutal, expansionist empire with a society based around social equality through strength and utility. It is the largest region in the known world.^[27]
• The Freljord is a vast, frozen tundra, home to warring clans, and the imprisoned Watchers of the Void under the Howling Abyss.^[28]
• Piltover & Zaun are two twin cities divided by class, and are the main setting of Arcane. Piltover is a wealthy hub of technological innovation built around "Hextech", a combination of magic and technology. Zaun is its polluted and rebellious undercity below built around "Chemtech", a combination of chemicals and technology.^[29][30]

• Shurima is a vast desert that surrounds the ruins of an ancient empire, where god-warriors called the Ascended once ruled and now stir again.^[31]
• Targon is a near-impassable mountain range home to cosmic entities called the Aspects, who inhabit mortal hosts and pursue strange divine agendas.^[32]
• Ixtal is an ancient civilization known for its mastery of elemental magic. It is hidden deep in a vast jungle and was deliberately isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years due to a fear of the Void.^[33]
• The Void is not a region mortals can usually inhabit, but a realm of nothingness pressing against reality, from which Voidborn creatures emerge to consume and destroy. The land that the Void has already consumed was once known as Icathia.^[34]

• Camavor is a fallen expansionist monarchy whose last king, Viego, triggered the Ruination. The Ruination was a catastrophic necromantic event that created the Shadow Isles.^[35]
• Kathkan is the newest region Riot has introduced, and not much is known of its status, other than that it has known relative peace since the kingdom of Camavor collapsed. It is largely inspired by the cultures of south and south-east Asia.^[36]

• The Shadow Isles, formerly the Blessed Isles, are a cursed archipelago consumed by the Ruination, which transformed its inhabitants into undead wraiths bound to a deadly mist.^[37]
• Ionia is a spiritually rich island nation with a deep connection to magic and nature, shaped by the trauma of a brutal Noxian invasion.^[38]
• Bilgewater is a lawless port city built on the hunting of sea monsters and maritime trade, ruled by pirate captains and crime bosses.^[39]
• Bandle City is the hidden, otherworldly home of the Yordles, a small magical race. Its location shifts through the use of portals and cannot be reliably found by non-Yordles.^[40]

• Humans are the most widespread race on Runeterra and are found in every region. The majority of Runeterra's nations, conflicts, and history are driven by human civilizations.^[26]
• Yordles are a small, magical race of beings with fur who originate from Bandle City. Cheerful, curious and immortal by nature, they can be found scattered across Runeterra.^[40]
• The Vastaya are a chimeric race whose lineage contains both human blood and the spiritual magic of a pre-human race called the Vastayashai'rei. The Vastayashai'rei were enlightened mortals who became immortal shapeshifters. Their descendants, the Vastaya, are mystical chimeric beings who are greatly attuned to the magic of Runeterra.^[38] They vary enormously in appearance across tribes. Ahri, for example, is a Vastaya from Ionia with fox tails and ears, while Rengar is a ferocious hunter that closely resembles a lion. As humans have continued to disrupt the magic in the world, no new Vastaya have been born in several mortal lifetimes, and the race is slowly dying out.^[38]

• Ryze is a wandering mage who has dedicated his life to collecting and hiding the World Runes, magical artifacts that previously decimated the known world and its nations. His goal is to prevent mortals from harnessing powerful magic and his actions have repeatedly prevented global catastrophe.^[41]
• Mordekaiser (previously Sahn Uzal) was an ancient Noxian warlord who died on a "mountain of corpses" believing it would bring him eternal life in Runeterra's equivalent of Valhalla. Upon discovering this was a lie, he used necromantic magic while trapped in hell to resurrect an army, and is currently imprisoned under Noxus seeking to return and imprison the living and dead.^[42]
• Viego, the Ruined King, was the last king of Camavor. His attempt to resurrect his dying wife, Isolde, caused the Ruination, creating the Shadow Isles and unleashing the Black Mist across Runeterra.^[43]
• Lissandra is an ancient leader of one of the Freljord's clans. She betrayed her allies to imprison the powerful Watchers of the Void beneath the Freljord. She continues to prevent their eventual return.^[44]
• Azir is the resurrected emperor of Shurima. His return raised the buried capital, restored the ascending Sun Disc and the life-giving waters of the Shurima desert. It also began the reunification of the fractured Shuriman peoples under one reborn empire.^[45]
• Xerath, a former slave, is a being of Arcane lightning energy whose betrayal of the emperor Azir destroyed ancient Shurima. He seeks godlike power and threatens the Shuriman continent.^[46]
• Swain is one of three rulers of Noxus, whose demonic powers and vast intelligence network drive the empire's expansion while monitoring threats from other nations. His crow spies were featured in Arcane.^[47]
• Bel'Veth is a Void Empress created from the memories of consumed civilizations. She seeks to overthrow the Void's creators and remake reality in her own image.^[48]
• Aurelion Sol is a celestial dragon who forged the stars themselves. Bound by a celestial crown by the Aspects of Targon, his eventual freedom could destroy Runeterra.^[49]
• LeBlanc is the leader of the Black Rose, a secret society that has manipulated Noxian and world events for centuries with the end goal of amassing enough power for Noxus to defeat greater threats such as Mordekaiser, the Void, Viego's Black Mist and the Watchers.^[50]

When asked about the game's art style, art director Greg Faillace described it as 'familiar, but something unique', drawing both comparisons and distinctions from Riot's other visual styles such as those seen in League of Legends, Arcane and Legends of Runeterra.^[11]

While the project’s direction was partially reset following Greg Street's departure from Riot Games, earlier statements from Street and other developers confirmed a number of intended features and design goals for the game. These statements predate the reset and may or may not reflect the current direction of development, however it is unlikely all of these features were scrapped, as many are considered foundational to the MMO genre and Riot’s design ethos. ^[51] These elements include:

• A "holy trinity" system of dedicated tank, healer and damage dealer roles in group activities^[51]
• A "very large" open world^[52]
• An emphasis on "respecting the player's time", including a lower expected time commitment from players and less "FOMO" than other MMO titles^[51][52]
• A design focus described as mass-appealing but "innovative" rather than "a super experimental game that shatters genres but appeals only to a handful of players"^[51]
• A "beginner and casual friendly" design approach^[51]
• Support for low-end hardware alongside high graphical settings on higher-end systems^[51]
• A free-to-play business model without pay-to-win mechanics^[51]
• Dungeons and raids^[51]
• A focus on action combat as opposed to "tab-targeting"
• Third-person
• A mana, health and stamina system
• Quest hubs^[51]
• Character customization^[51]
• Transmogrification systems^[51]
• Player housing^[53]
• Fishing^[51]

Despite the lack of publicly released gameplay material, the project has attracted significant attention due to the popularity of the League of Legends IP and Riot's involvement.^[16] It is frequently cited among the most anticipated upcoming MMORPGs, especially after several large budget MMOs failed in 2025 and 2026.^[21][54]

• Riot Games
• League of Legends
• List of videogames in development
• Upcoming video games

• Official MMO recruiting website