League of Legends maker Riot is working on several big games
Riot Games is hoping its legacy will be defined by more than just League of Legends.
Riot is looking to release "a handful" of big games every decade, and it's already working on a number of unannounced projects.
Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill told Variety that the studio has been exploring several different ideas for games, but stopped just short of revealing what any of them even could be.
"We’ve been working for such a long period of time on so many things," said Merrill, adding that different research and development teams within Riot are exploring different opportunities.
Whatever Riot's next big game is, there's one key element it's going to have. It has to cater to a specific niche the same way League of Legends does today.
Riot sees the most popular game on PC a niche title, specifically because it's "hyper-focused" on serving a particular audience well, taking in feedback and evolving without worrying about appealing to the wider games audience.
"There is no imperative that we just do things in the ‘League of Legends’ universe," he explained. "We need to develop games that will resonate with a particular audience and focus on the gameplay first, then the IP needs to support that game."
Merrill added that the developer is also not limited by platform, but implied that whatever the game is, it has to be built with longevity in mind. Though he doesn't explicitly state this; it doesn't sound like Riot is working on big single-player games.
"... 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."
Merrill said Riot Games now has over 2,500 employees, and called this coming phase the second step in the company's evolution. He wouldn't say how many of these developers are actively working on new games vs. supporting League of Legends, however.
None of this will have an effect on League of Legends or Riot's plans for it, for obvious reasons.
"We have an obligation to our fans. If we were to divert our talent to other teams, we wouldn’t live up to that obligation. That’s why we grew the company," Merrill said.