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Riot co-founder Marc Merrill says the company has “all sorts of smart reasons” not to make its League of Legends MMO: the genre demands enormous scale, carries high expectations and can be hard to distinguish in a market many consider niche. His case for proceeding is that Riot has spent 20 years building Runeterra, developed a large global fandom and believes it now has the people, revenue and technical capacity to take on the challenge. Those are Merrill’s reasons for the bet—not evidence that the game will succeed.
What Merrill said about the MMO’s risks
In a Lemonade Stand interview published September 30, 2026, Merrill acknowledged the argument against entering the genre rather than brushing it aside. “I don’t disagree with a bunch of your concerns, right? There’s all sorts of smart reasons as to why we shouldn’t do what we’re doing. But there’s a lot of stuff that we’re doing that nobody knows also,” he said. Watch the Lemonade Stand interview.
GamesRadar+ reported his concerns as “the scale; the expectations; the challenges; the argument that they’re niche.” GamesRadar+’s coverage says the game’s specific details remain undisclosed. A difficult genre and demanding audience create a high bar; Merrill’s acknowledgment of that bar does not explain how Riot plans to clear it.
Why Riot believes it can take on the challenge
Runeterra already has a long history
Merrill’s central argument is that Riot is not starting with an unfamiliar setting. “One thing is that we’ve been building this world of Runeterra for 20 years, and pouring our hearts and soul into it,” he said. The existing world and its fans give the company a foundation for a larger game, in his view. But enthusiasm for Runeterra, including fandom expressed through products such as the physical card game Riftbound, is not proof that those fans want to play an MMO.
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Riot waited until it had resources and an audience
Merrill said Riot did not want to enter the genre until it had “a global fanbase of hundreds of millions of people.” That is his description of the scale of fandom Riot wanted before attempting the project, not an independently verified player count or a measure of prospective MMO customers. He also pointed to Riot’s revenue streams, team and technical capacity as reasons it is now positioned to try.
Aiming for a defined audience, not everyone
Merrill argued that trying to make a game for everybody can produce something “too watered down.” That suggests Riot would rather make a focused MMO than chase universal appeal, but he has not publicly identified the audience, preferred play style or design choices that would define that focus.
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The available remarks also do not establish the MMO’s gameplay, platforms, business model or release date. Riot’s approach to other games cannot fill in those blanks. Until the company shares specifics, Merrill’s comments explain why Riot is willing to attempt the project, not what players will actually get.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the argument does—and does not—show
The case is a wager on the combination of a world built over decades, a large existing fandom and Riot’s capacity to fund and staff a demanding project. The counterargument Merrill accepts is that MMOs bring high expectations, substantial production challenges and a perception of niche appeal. The interview does not resolve whether Runeterra’s following will translate into a durable MMO audience or whether Riot can deliver a distinct game.
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