Tag: Riot Games

Former Riot and Blizzard devs are making a cozy online life sim

Palia is a new life-sim in development from former Riot and Blizzard devs that puts a cozy spin on multiplayer games

When you think of Riot, Blizzard, and Epic Games, you probably think of fast-paced, competitive multiplayer games like Overwatch 2 and Valorant, but that’s about to change. A group of former Blizzard, Sony, Epic, Zynga, and Riot developers teamed up to form new studio Singularity 6, and their debut game is Palia, a cozy online life-sim that’s attracting quite a bit of interest.

Singularity 6 bills Palia as a magical vacation and a cooperative community builder. You play as a human – formerly a legendary species, newly returned to Palia’s fantasy world – who arrives in a secluded part of the world and decides to set up house. 

Palia has all the usual things you’d expect in a life-sim, from farming to home design and detailed wardrobes, but the difference is that you don’t have to do it on your own. It’s a community building game with the spirit of Sky: Children of the Light as much as it is a life-sim, and Singularity 6 said that while you can play the free MMO solo, it’s “better together.”

The usual MMO stats are replaced with practical and social abilities, such as fishing and farming. You can make friends with the locals, team up to host an impromptu fishing contest, or just explore the wilds and come back in time for a cup of tea by the fire. 

It’s an unusual premise for an online game, and it’s resonating with fans. The game has over 600,000 followers, which Singularity 6 was keen to point out is more than double the number of followers that the most wishlisted Steam games have. During the last pre-alpha playtest, participating players logged a combined total of 167,000 hours.

Palia doesn’t have a release date just yet, but Singularity 6 will be hosting more playtests in the coming months. You can sign up on the Palia website if you’re interested.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Riot Games veterans form The Believer Company to create a ‘next-gen open world game’

The studio has secured 55 million in funding for its first project.

Two former Riot Games executives have formed The Believer Company, an all-new studio that’s already working on a next-generation open world game with an original IP.

The Believer Company is an effort by Michael Chow and Steven Snow, Riot Games’ former vice president and League of Legends executive producer, respectively. While the studio isn’t ready to show off this mysterious open world game yet – it did secure $55 million in funding for the project.

“Players are the best audience to serve in the world. They’re noble, smart, discerning, and infinitely inventive,” Chow said in a press release. “We hold their investments of time, skill, and hard-earned money as sacred, and we will always put their needs first at every stage of Believer’s journey.”

It’s no secret that Riot Games is a juggernaut within the games industry, no doubt partially thanks to Chow and Snow’s efforts. Without League of Legends, free to play games likely wouldn’t have taken off, and the folks at Believer seem keen on embracing exciting new trends (not NFTs, either – thankfully).

“The last few years have brought forward some very exciting technologies. In our world, where the player is the focus, our goal is to bring select technologies into the development and gameplay spaces explicitly for the betterment of our players and the games they love,” Snow added. “Bringing free-to-play to North America and Europe with League of Legends really changed the landscape of how games as a service could work. It is our privilege to have the opportunity to help shape the future responsibly.”

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Riot and Ubisoft are launching a project to combat toxicity in games

Riot and Ubisoft hope their research into player behavior can help stop harmful chats before problems occur

Ubisoft and League of Legends maker Riot announced a new initiative meant to help reduce toxicity in online game chats. Officially called the Zero Harm in Comms project, the research will improve both companies’ artificial intelligence with the aim of creating a “cross-industry database and labeling ecosystem” that will make it easier for AI to identify potentially harmful in-game behavior before it happens.

“We are exploring how to better prevent in-game toxicity as designers of these environments with a direct link to our communities,” Yves Jacquier, executive director at Ubisoft La Forge, said in a statement.  “Disruptive player behaviors is an issue that we take very seriously but also one that is very difficult to solve. At Ubisoft, we have been working on concrete measures to ensure safe and enjoyable experiences, but we believe that, by coming together as an industry, we will be able to tackle this issue more effectively.”

While the two companies may seem like an unusual combination, the rationale behind the project is that between Ubisoft’s wide variety of online games and the intensely competitive nature of Riot’s games, the initiative should be able to capture a broad range of problematic behavior and language. 

Both companies will share their research with the broader industry in 2023, presumably at the Game Developers Conference, though the statement didn’t provide an exact date.

The project seems poised to make a difference in the game experience for players. Now someone just needs to figure out how to protect the development teams themselves from fan harassment online.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Riot’s fighting game Project L will be free to play

The studio behind League of Legends is entering another enormous esports scene.

Half of what makes League of Legends, Valorant, and nearly every other title by Riot Games so successful is how easy it is to jump in — a strategy the company will embrace with its upcoming fighting game Project L.

On Monday, senior director and executive producer Tom Cannon revealed that Project L will not require an initial buy-in investment.

“One of our goals is to remove as many barriers as possible from you enjoying Project L,” Cannon said in a development video. ” We want you to be able to play no matter where you live, what your skill level is, or how much money you have to spend on a game. To that, I’m happy to confirm that Project L will be free-to-play.”

It’s not all that surprising, given every title aside from Ruined King: A League of Legends Story uses the model.

“Our team is made of fighting game veterans and folks who are passionate about serving the [Fighting Game Community]. We operate with one approach,” Cannon continues. “When it comes to monetization, we promise to be respectful of your time and your wallet.”

Still no hint as to when the game might come out, but that’s to be expected. In the video, Cannon explains that the team is still working on champions and refining core systems. So we’ll just have to keep waiting patiently.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Riot Games invests in animation studio behind Arcane: League of Legends

Fortiche Productions gets some extra financial backing.

Fortiche Productions, the animation studio behind Arcane: League of Legends, is receiving some extra financial backing from Riot Games.

On Monday, Riot Games announced its intentions to increase support for Fortiche Productions after years of collaborating on various League of Legends shorts and Arcane.

“Fortiche has been an integral partner for a long time, but this agreement ensures we’ll be working closely for decades to come,” Nicolo Laurent, CEO of Riot Games, said in a press release. “We hold a high bar for everyone we work with and insist they understand players deeply and focus on them relentlessly, and from day one, Fortiche has exemplified Player Experience First.”

“The various collaborations with Riot Games, and especially Arcane, have made Fortiche Production a new major player on the international animation scene,” Fortiche Productions co-founders said. “Riot Games, by trusting us, has given us the means to achieve our common ambitions and has shown that it is possible to offer new content that can reach a large audience.”

Arcane: League of Legends came out last fall, and since went on to win nine trophies at the Annie Awards. A second season is already in the works too.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Zeri is League of Legends’ electrifying new champion

She’s available now too.

It’s a new day in League of Legends, as the lightning-infused champion Zeri is available now.

As part of the MOBA phenomenon’s  12th competitive season, Riot Games went ahead and released the 158th champion for League of Legends. Zeri is lightning-fast in that she literally zips around Summoner’s Rift by way of electrical powers. Kind of like Valorant’s  new agent Neon, only instead of one-tapping poor sods from a bomb site, she’s hurling lightning bolts like this is Quake all of a sudden.

Riot Games  also released a trailer detailing Zeri’s unique abilities and toolkit, which you can check out for yourself below. Her character skins certainly are stylish, even if there’s none  referencing pop culture.

League of Legends has been a  behemoth for years now, especially as it’s by far the  most prominent global esport. The brand as a whole grew tons in 2021, though. 

Be it between the hit Netflix series Arcane, which is  getting a second season, or spinoffs like Ruined King — League of Legends  isn’t just a game anymore; it’s a franchise. One that will almost certainly keep growing this year as  more projects at Riot Games  see the light of day.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Valorant Agent tier list 2022: All you need to know

We’ve compiled a list of all Valorant agents and categorized them into five tiers based on the current meta.

The meta in Riot Games’ first-person shooter, Valorant, revolves around the constant changes made to its agents, requiring players to adapt to the evolving gameplay.

With the start of the latest Episode and the introduction of the speedster, Neon, the agent pool has expanded into 18 different agents. This makes things a bit complicated for players while selecting agents for their team. 

With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of all the agents from the pool and categorized them into five tiers based on the current meta to help you make the best decision. The list ranges from the S-Tier to D-Tier, S being the highest tier and D being the lowest.

League of Legends gets a jaw-dropping cinematic for Season 12

The Call kicks off a new competitive season.

It’s hard to believe that League of Legends  has been going strong for close to a decade, and wilder still, there are  no signs of it slowing down.

To kick off a new competitive season, Riot Games  released The Call, a staggeringly beautiful CGI cutscene featuring fan-favorite champions across the  Runeterra universe. There are crowd-pleasing inclusions like Leona, Pantheon, Voilbear to, well, other ridiculously popular characters such as Sejuani, Tailyah Kaisa, Olaf, and Ornn. I mean, is there even such a thing as an unpopular League of Legends  champion? Not really.

Check out The Call cinematic for yourself below. It wasn’t that long ago that League of Legends  cutscenes had a cheap look to them, but that’s certainly not the case anymore.

A high-quality YouTube mirror is available for all your 4K viewing pleasure  here.

The song that plays throughout, also titled The Call, is available for streaming on Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music. This catchy banger was co-written and performed by Hermann Schepetkov, Louis Leibfried, Simon Heeger, Christian Vorländer, while 2WEI and Mr. Herms handled production (Thanks, NME). So it was quite a collaborative effort!

Riot Games loves to debut songs alongside its big cinematics, and the tradition isn’t going away anytime soon.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Valorant director is working on a secret new project at Riot Games

Joe Ziegler is moving on.

Joe Ziegler, game director on Valorant, has left the development team to work on a different project at Riot Games.

Over on Valorant’s official website, Ziegler shared a heartfelt goodbye while also detailing who’s taking over as lead on the free-to-play first-person shooter phenomenon in his stead.

“After eight years of working on Valorant, building it from the ground up with a team of dedicated and passionate developers who’ve worked tirelessly to serve you all with the respect and admiration that you deserve,” Ziegler said. “I am giving up the mantle of game director of the Valorant tac-shooter to my good friend, Andy Ho.”

However, Ziegler is not leaving  Riot Games — far from it. He isn’t going to start working on League of Legends  or any other game at the company that’s publically known either. Instead, it seems he’s taking over a new yet-to-be-announced title. 

“As for me, I’ll be starting something new (*wink, secrets…) in the hopes that we can even scratch the surface of the amazing impact Valorant has already had so far,” Ziegler continues. “Thank you to everyone who has supported and continues to support Valorant, and a special shout out to all who’ve supported me and my work. You’ve made my time as your game director a truly joyous and memorable experience.”

We can only speculate about this new project, but given how Riot Games seems to be working on titles in  just about every genre these days, it’ll likely be something we’re not expecting. 

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Riot Games to settle gender discrimination lawsuit for $100 million

League of Legends studio reaches settlement.

Riot Games, the studio behind League of Legends, will settle a 2018 gender discrimination lawsuit with California state agencies and several private plaintiffs for $100 million, The Washington Post reported Monday.

In August 2018, Kotaku published a report on Riot Games and its allegedly toxic workplace. A class-action lawsuit was filed by former employees in November 2018 alleging sexual misconduct and gender discrimination. The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) and California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) followed up with their own inquires.

Riot Games agreed to settle the lawsuit Monday by paying $80 million to all former and current women employees from November 2014 and onward. The remaining $20 million will go toward legal fees.

“This historic agreement reflects California’s commitment to strategic and effective government enforcement of the State’s robust equal-pay, anti-discrimination, and anti-harassment laws,” Kevin Kish, DFEH director, said in a press release. “If entered by the court, this decree will compensate employees and contractors affected by sex discrimination and harassment, ensure lasting change in this workplace, and send the message that all industries in California, including the gaming industry, must provide equal pay and workplaces free from discrimination and harassment.”

In addition to the settlement, Riot Games has agreed to a gender-equity analysis of employee pay, job assignments, and promotions by a third-party company approved by the DFEH for the next three years. The settlement still needs court approval, though a hearing is expected to take place in the coming months.

“Three years ago, Riot was at the heart of what became a reckoning in our industry,” Riot Games said via The Washington Post. “We had to face the fact that despite our best intentions, we hadn’t always lived up to our values. As a company we stood at a crossroads; we could deny the shortcomings of our culture, or we could apologize, correct course, and build a better Riot. We chose the latter. While we’re proud of how far we’ve come since 2018, we must also take responsibility for the past. We hope that this settlement properly acknowledges those who had negative experiences at Riot.”

This settlement comes mere months after Overwatch and Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard, another California-based video game company, received similar workplace misconduct reports.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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