League of Legends It has more than 160 controllable characters, each with their own story linked to a region of Runeterra, the world in which the game takes place. For the vast majority of players in this MOBA, that is irrelevant. They are only here to compete. But there are others like me who want to know more about the champions. Parts of their stories have been revealed through novellas, online articles, comics, and the excellent Netflix series Arcanebut there is little we can learn if we only play LoL.
At the end of 2019, Riot Games announced the creation of Riot Forge, a subdivision in charge of publishing games developed by independent studios based on the Runeterra universe and starring the champions of LoL. Under this label they released half a dozen very interesting games that really helped us learn more about this world and its inhabitants. That is why I tremendously regret the end of the “forge”.
Through an official statement published on January 22, 2024, Riot Games announced the layoff of more than 500 employees and the termination of several projects. According to his management, the company had doubled in size in recent years and that growth was unsustainable in the post-pandemic era. They had to do a restructuring, so they got rid of 11% of employees and several projects. Among the canceled programs was Riot Forge and with its end we say goodbye to the ‘spin-off’ games of League of Legends.
Of course, the real tragedy here is the half a thousand people who have lost their jobs. Riot Games announced that it will give them a substantial settlement and support. That is appreciated, but the ideal would have been to avoid this situation and for the managers who made bad decisions to be the ones to pay the price. Still, I can’t deny that it also makes me extremely sad to know that there won’t be more games like Ruined King, The Mageseeker, Song of Nunu y Convergence.
Stories from Runeterra
Through the series Arcane and the Riot Forge games, Riot Games had achieved something that had eluded them for a decade: develop the plot and personality of the champions LoL. Until the arrival of these works, players’ attachment to the characters they controlled was based primarily on their aesthetics and gameplay. His background was something that came in third place.
Thanks to the Riot Forge games we were able to fully understand the suffering and humanity of a character as complex as Sylas, who for many was nothing more than a villain. It allowed us to see the complex class conflict that exists in Zaun through Ekko’s eyes and discover how deep the friendship between Nunu and Willump can go.
But There are dozens of other characters in the universe of LoL who were waiting their turn to star in a Riot Forge game and will no longer have it. I personally dreamed of a game that explored Nilah’s complex relationship with the demon of joy or a horror title in which we had to flee from Briar. There were many genres of video games that could be explored and many places in Runeterra that we could explore. Now we will have to return to the Summoner’s Rift and continue fighting in games in which the past and personality of the champions hardly matters.
From the Shadow Islands to Bandle City
Riot Forge only gave us six games, but they were very varied and colorful experiences. I am very happy to have been able to experience them.
- Ruined King: This was a classic style RPG, with turn-based combat, developed by Airship Syndicate (Battle Chasers). He did not allow taking a team consisting of Pyke, Braum, Miss Fortune, Illaoi, Ahri and Yasuo to the Shadow Islands to uncover the mystery of the Dark Mist. You can read our review here.
- Hextech Mayhem: In this rhythm game in which we control Ziggs causing chaos in Piltover. It doesn’t have a great story and is considered by many to be the least interesting of Riot Games’ games. But this work by Choice Provision (Bit.Trip) has great music and represents well how fun yordles are. Here is the review.
- The Mageseeker: This action role-playing title delves into a well-known story from the ‘lore’ of League of Legends: the rebellion of Sylas and the mages against the Dalmatian government. It’s the game that made me fall in love with it and convinced me that Riot Forge was a fantastic idea that should last for many years. Now I cry that there will be no more games like this from the Spanish studio Digital Suns (Moonlighter). In this review I explain why I liked it so much.
- Convergence: if you are fans of Arcane, you have to play this title and thus learn more about Zaun. This Double Stallion metroidvania (Speed Brawl) has great graphics, excellent gameplay, great voice acting and a great story starring Ekko and his time control powers. As you will read in this review, it is the best of the Riot Forge games.
- Song of Nunu: This is a beautiful 3D action and platform adventure from Tequila Works (Rime). Not only does it allow us to learn more about the lore of the Freljord – the northern region of Runeterra – but it is an emotional story about the deep bond of brotherhood that exists between the last yeti and the last notai. We highly recommend it.
- Bandle Speech: the latest ‘spin-off’ game that will explore the universe of LoL It had not been released when they announced the end of Riot Forge. This will be a relaxed management, city building and community game from Lazy Bear Games (Graveyard Keeper). At least we’ll get to spend time with the yordle before the end of this story.
I’m going to miss the Riot Forge games a lot. In addition to expanding the world and stories of League of Legends, They were a perfect opportunity for independent studios to stretch their wings and find some security while working on their own projects..
I still want to know more about the universe LoL and it’s a shame that we won’t have more games as interesting as these to guide me through Runeterra. Fortunately I still have season 2 of Arcane on the horizon.
