Riot Games seems to be developing a League of Legends action role-playing game in confidentiality, according to newly uncovered job listings published on the company’s careers page. Two temporary roles at Riot’s Shanghai studio—one for a Combat Systems Designer and another for a CG animator—indicate an early-phase R&D project is underway, with both roles highlighting familiarity with the League of Legends IP as a desirable qualification. Whilst the company has not officially announced the project, the postings indicate a compact team is building fighting mechanics from the ground up using Unreal Engine. The discovery comes as Riot concurrently pushes its long-troubled League of Legends MMO into active production, signalling an significant growth of the franchise throughout various game categories.
Shanghai Studio Confidential Initiative Comes to Light
The two job listings discovered on Riot’s recruitment page reveal that the Shanghai studio is hiring for an unannounced action title set within the League of Legends world. The Combat Designer role particularly highlights developing and refining combat systems from the ground up, with candidates expected to show extensive expertise of action games and ARPGs. The position highlights the importance of combat feel, mechanics and artificial intelligence—core elements that would define the player experience in any action-focused game. Meanwhile, the animation specialist position seeks professionals with experience in stylized character animation, suggesting Riot intends to maintain visual consistency with League’s distinctive art direction.
Whilst neither vacancy listing explicitly references the project, both positions highlight League of Legends IP understanding as a added advantage, strongly suggesting Runeterra as the probable location. The temporary structure of these roles usually points to early-stage development, meaning the action RPG could still be years away from formal declaration or release. This revelation underscores Riot’s broader strategy to diversify the League franchise beyond its core MOBA game, after periods of successful expansions into animated series, collectible card games and mobile titles. The simultaneous development of both an MMO and an action RPG demonstrates the organisation’s dedication to examining different categories within the Runeterra universe.
- Combat Game Designer role concentrates on action/ARPG mechanics development
- CG animator role highlights stylised character animation proficiency
- Project uses Unreal Engine for game creation
- Contract roles indicate early-stage research and development phase currently underway
What the Position Advertisements Show
Fighting Mechanics at the Heart
The Action Game Combat Designer role constitutes the cornerstone of Riot’s action RPG aspirations, with the role directly charged with building and iterating on combat systems from scratch. The job description stresses candidates must possess strong proficiency in action games and action RPGs, with specific emphasis on the player experience of combat, the core systems that foster player engagement, and the artificial intelligence systems that control enemy actions. This level of specificity indicates Riot is not simply applying established combat systems but rather developing a bespoke system tailored to deliver a distinctive action experience in the League universe.
The priority placed on combat mechanics and feel demonstrates that Riot understands the critical importance of responsive, satisfying gameplay in the action RPG genre. By bringing on specialists who know how to develop engaging combat systems, the company is indicating its plan to establish itself within a crowded marketplace of action-oriented titles. The requirement for Unreal Engine knowledge additionally shows that Riot is employing established industry tools to realise its goals, allowing the team to focus creative energy on the game’s distinctive elements rather than building proprietary tools from scratch.
Runeterra as the Probable Location
Although neither job posting explicitly identifies the project, both postings highlight familiarity with League of Legends IP as a preferred requirement, placing Runeterra squarely in the frame as the likely backdrop. This strategic positioning allows Riot to leverage the existing lore, character roster and worldbuilding that has evolved throughout multiple media formats, including the award-winning animation Arcane and the collectible card game Legends of Runeterra. Leveraging established IP minimises the creative workload of world-building whilst providing players with recognisable elements that deepen engagement and investment in the narrative.
The choice to place the action RPG in Runeterra also supports Riot’s wider strategic approach of creating linked gameplay experiences throughout various gaming genres. By anchoring the new project to the identical universe as the MMO, the card game and the animated series, Riot generates possibilities for cross-promotion and shared narrative threads that satisfy dedicated players. This approach maximises the worth of the company’s creative efforts whilst establishing Runeterra as a complete entertainment hub comparable to well-known franchises like The Elder Scrolls or The Witcher.
Growing the League Universe
Riot Games’ reported development of a League of Legends action RPG represents a significant expansion of the franchise’s aspirations beyond its beginnings as a competitive team-based online game. The company has been systematically broadening the League universe through diverse media and gaming experiences, from the critically acclaimed Arcane animation to the Legends of Runeterra collectible card game. This multi-pronged strategy converts League from a standalone game property into a comprehensive entertainment ecosystem, positioning Runeterra as a setting deserving exploration across multiple genres and platforms. The action RPG integrates seamlessly into this expansion strategy, providing players an entirely different way to interact with the cherished game world.
The release window of this development effort proves particularly noteworthy given Riot’s existing commitments to other League-connected projects. With the MMO still in active production following its 2024 reset and the appointment of ex-World of Warcraft director Raymond Bartos, the company is showing remarkable confidence in the franchise’s capacity to support multiple major releases simultaneously. This dual-project approach mirrors successful strategies employed by other major gaming publishers with sprawling universes. By creating titles across different genres in parallel, Riot can maintain player engagement through diverse gameplay whilst building anticipation for each individual release. The Shanghai studio’s involvement points to the company is allocating resources strategically across its global operations.
| Project | Status |
|---|---|
| League of Legends MMO | Active production with new leadership |
| Action RPG (Unannounced) | Early-stage R&D at Shanghai studio |
| Arcane animated series | Established franchise component |
| Legends of Runeterra card game | Ongoing live service title |
- Various League initiatives in development at the same time throughout diverse studios and genres
- Runeterra setting expanding via interconnected game offerings and media adaptations
- Established IP enables Riot to utilise current narrative and character rosters effectively
Timeline and Future Outlook
The contractual status of the posted positions suggests this action role-playing game remains in its early stages, probably several years before any public reveal or release. Preliminary research and development initiatives at major studios typically require considerable duration before achieving functional prototypes, let alone commercial viability. Riot’s decision to recruit for such foundational projects indicates genuine commitment to investigating the ARPG genre within the League universe, though patience will be required from eager fans. The Shanghai studio’s participation in this foundational phase allows the team to experiment with gameplay mechanics, combat design and visual direction without the burden of tight schedules or public expectations.
Looking ahead, the alignment of multiple League projects creates an compelling development landscape for Riot Games. Should both the MMO and action RPG advance favourably, the publisher could cement its status as a dominant force in multi-genre franchise development across the latter half of this decade. The recruitment of Raymond Bartos to the MMO demonstrates Riot’s genuine commitment in producing quality content rather than rushing products to market. Similarly, the measured, restrained approach to the ARPG’s development implies the company has addressed prior shortcomings and now focuses on sustainable, adequately resourced production cycles across its portfolio of significant franchises.
