Riot Games' BIG Secret: How Do They Continue to Make BANGERS?!

Riot Games is best known for their work on their extremely successful IP: League of Legends. Just in 2022, according to Priori Data’s latest revenue report, just League of Legends racked up a whopping $1.8 billion. But then I saw this trailer when I watched the Nintendo Direct 3 days ago:

Photo from Nintendo of America

But Javi, why is this important to me, the player???

I think this can give us a little looking-glass as to what Riot Forge may be up to next. I do love a good theory so let me know what you think Riot Forge is up to next. I think, with souls-like games on the rise, I wouldn’t put it past Riot Forge to bring something ambitious to compete against the likes of From Software.

Souls-born League of Legends anyone?! Let me know your thoughts!

As I watched the trailer, it dawned on me how extraordinarily different this single-player action-adventure game was to their MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game, League of Legends, and it got me thinking: how do they determine what style of game to publish?

My thought: visual confirmation. Think about it: Riot Forge (in tangent with Riot Games) is a brand new game publisher, developed in 2021 and their first game ever was a turn-based role playing game called The Ruined King. This game received an unbelievable review by IGN (9 out of 10), but in such a niche gaming genre such as turned-based RPGs, it begs the question: what drew this publisher to create a game like this?

Let’s look at the data. What other games came out that same year that could have given a hint to Riot Forge as to what gamers were interested in so they could develop a game that would resonate with the fans? If you look at the list of turned-based RPGs in 2021, it’s quite extensive. And, believe me, they’re not beginner friendly. These are intense video games with in-depth development: we’re talking Bravely Default 2, Shin Megami Tensei 5 (the most INTENSE turned-based RPG of the year by far), Tales of Arise, and the list goes on.

So what does Riot Forge do? My theory is that they did some testing, both from online tools and from tests from real gamers, to see if it was a viable option or not and if it was “hardcore” enough for the players. When it comes to visual confirmation, it’s all about the questions you pose. This is a very lucrative IP and, of course, people will buy into the story because it’s League of Legends, but will gamers buy this game EVEN IF it’s made into a spinoff not many of Riot Games’ player base normally plays?

If the data says no and the charts say otherwise, then the idea is scrapped. But, if the idea resonates and you have the data to back it up, well then you have these:

Photos from Riot Forge