Riot Games Founder Marc Merrill Calls League of Legends MMO a 'Grail Quest' as Fans Express Skepticism After 2XKO

During a panel at PAX West, Riot Games co-founder and Chief Product Officer Marc Merrill spoke about the studio's highly anticipated and long-in-development League of Legends MMO. Speaking with Kinda Funny Games' Greg Miller, Merrill discussed the team's internal perspective on the project, which has been in development for several years but remains largely shrouded in mystery.

"We know what players' hopes and dreams are," Merrill said. "It's just on us as a team and as people to succeed in the execution. What a worthy quest. We jokingly call it the grail internally because we're like, 'f*ck it, many a brave knight are going to die.' But f*ck it, it's the grail so let's go. That's the mindset that we really try to cultivate, but it's really hard to do at scale. But I think we're doing a reasonable job and the future is incredibly bright."

Despite Merrill's enthusiastic outlook, the comments have been met with significant skepticism online from the gaming community. This public distrust has been fueled by Riot Games' recent decision to end active development on its fighting game, 2XKO, in December—less than a year after its console launch. While 2XKO will remain playable, Riot cited a lack of player sustainability and the absence of a viable future as the reasons behind the decision.

Fans have drawn parallels between 2XKO's fate and other live-service projects at Riot. In 2024, the developer scaled back its digital card game, Legends of Runeterra, due to financial challenges, shifting its focus toward the single-player "The Path of Champions" mode. Around the same time, Riot shut down its indie publishing label, Riot Forge, while its top-down action game, Project F, has not been seen in years.

Critics online voiced concerns that the upcoming MMO may suffer a similar fate if it fails to instantly capture a player base comparable to established giants like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV. Additionally, some community members pointed out the lack of concrete information regarding the MMO, noting that the studio has yet to release screenshots, concept art, or an official title despite several years of development.

The MMO, which previously saw the departure of former Blizzard lead Greg Street in 2023, reportedly restarted development within the last few years. While Merrill has previously indicated that the game will launch before 2030, Riot Games faces immense pressure to prove it can support its major new endeavors for the long haul.