Pioneering the Next Era of Gaming: Riot Games’ Vision for Future Gamers

In 2010, the crew at League of Legends developer Riot Games found themselves feeling anxious. Their dynamic multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) was gaining momentum, yet just a few hours south in Anaheim, Blizzard was about to launch Starcraft II, a blockbuster PC strategy game that could potentially capture their audience and overshadow League before it had a chance to truly thrive. This marked a crucial turning point for both the studio and the gaming industry overall. Both companies were pondering the same essential question: “What do players desire from online games?”

The situation turned out quite favorably for League of Legends. Sixteen years post-launch, it is still racking up millions of daily active players and generating substantial revenue for Riot Games, which has since developed various titles such as Teamfight Tactics and Valorant—and is poised to enter the team combat genre with 2XKO.

Currently, the company—and the gaming realm as a whole—are revisiting that question.

A lot has evolved in these 16 years. Riot Games and Blizzard Entertainment have had to mature. Both have resolved lawsuits with the California Civil Rights Department concerning accusations of workplace sexual harassment, and both have laid off employees due to rising production costs and stagnant player spending.

League enthusiasts have aged, meaning many can no longer devote the same amount of time or physical effort into mastering their preferred champions. Younger players, raised on a diverse diet of survival crafting titles like Minecraft and social user-generated content games like Roblox, have developed different preferences. And as studio co-founder and chief product officer Marc Merrill pointed out to Game Developer during a discussion at DICE 2025, audience expectations for what are commonly referred to as “live service games” are higher than ever, intensifying the stakes for projects that occasionally demand millions of dollars to get underway.

So, how does the company proceed? Merrill mentioned that Riot is focusing on the “social interactions” that are driving conversations about online games lately, but it is also adhering to its original strategy: transforming players into individuals who say “I play League of Legends,” rather than “I play video games.”

2XKO‘s social lobby may be pivotal to its success

In contrast to MOBAs or tactical first-person shooters, fighting games have endured and flourished since the arcade era due to strong, often player-driven meetups where individuals cheer each other on (or engage in friendly banter) in real life. Riot has a history of organizing esports events, yet Merrill noted that meeting this community where it exists will necessitate a more innovative approach.

However, a more intriguing question emerged: as Riot’s publishing division places 2XKO in front of gamers, how will the development team foster social interactions online? The answer lies in the game’s pre-match lobby. As the company revealed in its closed alpha tests, players spend their time between matches not staring at a matchmaking screen, but navigating a virtual arcade with customizable avatars.

Riot isn’t the first to introduce a feature like this. Capcom’s Street Fighter VI features a similar lobby function. But in 2XKO‘s scenario, you can see the groundwork for what might be considered a “Roblox-ification” of online spaces. Emotes, character skins, and the ability to run in circles next to friends (creating an invitation for players who might just want to relax and chat rather than prepare for matches).

Enthusiastic gamers in the lobby may likely wander over to various arcade machines to observe games in progress—definitely a more engaging way to watch different titles without having to navigate through menus.

Riot has been experimenting with its pre-game lobby design for several years, even going so far as to modify the League of Legends launcher to allow players to pre-select their desired roles before entering a lobby—a significant move that solidified the fixed roles that players assume in League matches (top lane, mid lane, “jungler,” etc.).

It’s an effective menu, yet it can also be daunting for newcomers or (speaking from recent personal experience) returning players. “You can dunk on it,” Merrill remarked while reflecting on the League primary menu as we compared and contrasted the two systems.

A potentially unfair jab at the user interface experienced by many of Riot Games’ customers aside (which is meticulously crafted and updated by dedicated developers), the discussion allowed us to explore Riot’s high-level approach to the “lifespan” of its online games—and how having a broad perspective on that lifespan is crucial for its ongoing market strategy.

Steering Clear of Traditional “Industry Logic” Regarding Online Games

Merrill outlined two beliefs about the future of online gaming that he fundamentally disagrees with. Firstly, he stated that it is “absurd” to claim that young Roblox players are destined to remain tied to the block-based game’s universe, explaining, “Social motivations and the [desire] to play where one’s friends are playing—these factors are incredibly powerful.” He continued, “But that doesn’t imply if someone grows up playing in Roblox, that all they will do for the rest of their lives is enjoy block games or a Roblox-type.” Those players—like all other gamers—are on the lookout for experiences that resonate with them, and those experiences can take many forms.

The second notion was that a company’s view of an online game’s lifespan typically follows a trajectory of growth, peak, and eventual decline. If you adhered to that logic, League of Legends could be considered a failure since its monthly average user count is estimated to have peaked in 2022.

“One thing we strive to combat is the mindset that a product lifecycle is simply one of growth, followed by a spike, and then a slow decline. That’s also misguided,” he mentioned. “There’s entropy, there’s downward pressure; it’s challenging to keep players engaged over an extended period and consistently innovate. But that doesn’t imply there aren’t remarkable ways to enhance the experience.”

Those “ways” may not just consist of updates to the game pipeline. Riot’s three-pronged strategy of esports, captivating adaptations, and music production is all part of the approach to sustain League of Legends even if it may not be as fresh as it was in the 2010s. “That would never have occurred if we thought, ‘Well, you know, we’re starting to see churn rates rise, time to redirect all resources to something else,'” Merrill commented.

Developers keen to observe this strategy but lacking Riot’s resources can still learn from its success. “Examine it through a motivational lens,” he added. “Why do people enjoy this game in the first place? And then it’s, are you delivering adequately on those expectations or not?” He highlighted Blizzard’s World of Warcraft as another game implementing this strategy (without an engaging Netflix series in sight… just don’t inquire about a certain 2016 feature film).

Additionally, Riot continued to experiment with methods to reduce the negative toxicity that has become associated with League of Legends. Merrill reiterated the company’s assertion that in-game harassment is far less prevalent than it might seem from the outside (despite the few rotten eggs that go above and beyond to harm others having a significant impact, he acknowledged), yet there are fascinating new areas to explore. Recently, he mentioned that Riot is investigating how the dynamics of League matches exacerbate toxicity, often driven by a disconnect between what different teammates expect from a game.

“Some [toxic] players feel justified in what they’re doing and why,” he explained, illustrating a scenario where a player in the “ADC” role (a damage-focused role in League of Legends) might genuinely feel frustrated by a “support” player not meeting their expectations or being routinely outperformed by the opposing team.

Alternatively, there’s the opposite situation where a support player is playing defensively but has an ADC teammate they cannot keep up with. Across countless games being played, some proportion of these will trigger that “emotional spike” for players, prompting them to say things they normally wouldn’t. He compared it to how even the gentlest of people can become aggressive when stuck in traffic.

Identifying those mismatches is rather straightforward. Finding solutions is complex. He stated that Riot is exploring whether there are matchmaking strategies to help players seeking similar experiences, calling it an “untapped frontier.” However, if Riot overcommits to this strategy, it risks removing some of the competitive friction intrinsic to multiplayer games.

If there’s one lesson for other developers from this multifaceted approach