Closing Riot Forge is a big disservice to new League of Legends fans

The first time I tried to share League of Legends with a loved one was a pretty poor experience. I convinced my brother, despite his skepticism, to download the free-to-play MOBA and give it a shot. We jumped into a game against low-level AI bots together; the lowest-pressure experience possible. Then, my brother made the mistake of purchasing a mana crystal on his AD carry character, and somebody else called him a slur in the chat.

Despite the nightmare carnival of toxicity and yelling I’ve encountered over the years, I love League of Legends and have since 2009, when the game had approximately four polygons. I’ve spent endless hours reading into the backstories of each champion, coming up with theories, and reading other fans speculate on what’s coming next. It’s only recently that I feel like I’ve been able to properly onboard new people into the great lore countless developers and creatives have built up around League. For a long time, Riot’s storytelling felt like the shaky steps of a baby horse, but with Riot Forge games, the Netflix show, the novel, and other ventures I started to feel like all of that investment was solidifying into something I could comfortably share with my friends and loved ones.

Then, the recent round of layoffs happened at Riot Games, along with the shuttering of Riot Forge. I fear that this decision, and the end of stand-alone League of Legends stories, will ultimately truncate the progress and experience the world’s narrative has made so far.

Bandle Tale will be the last Riot Forge game, and it’s possibly the strongest example of how these games make the League IP a less threatening and alarming place. These games are easier to play, more accessible, and less competitive — and hence, less toxic. Bandle Tale is a cozy RPG crafting game that’s much closer to a farming sim like Stardew Valley than a high-octane PvP deathmatch like League. It’s filled with charming characters, lighthearted conflicts, and low-pressure exploration. It’s the opposite of a competitive ranked game, which is perfect for people who’ve bounced off the MOBA.

Going outside the realm of League is a great way to get into the series. It wasn’t until the release of Arcane, the lauded Netflix series, that I was able to talk about the world of League of Legends with my brother — and he was the one to initiate the conversation! It was a great turning point, and the Riot Forge games serve a very similar purpose. Mageseeker, Ruined King, Song of Nunu, and Bandle Tale all dove into unexplored angles of Runeterra, making the stories accessible without having to deal with League prime.

Now, the Riot Forge stand-alone games have come to an end. The Universe page for League of Legends, which collects all of the written lore, now only updates when a new champion comes out. It feels as though the stories Riot Games was working on have ground to a halt, and we’re back to the status quo of a lore limbo that only expands when it’s time to promote a new champion or skin line.

Image: Lazy Bear Games/Riot Forge

It’s interesting; other fantasy or sci-fi IP, like Warhammer 40,000, build up the lore with things like the Black Library, a publishing arm that regularly releases novels set in the universe from different perspectives. It’s been successful enough that The Horus Heresy, a prequel series set 10,000 years in the past, spun off into a wild run of 64 books. League fans could enjoy Ruination, set in the past of the mysterious Shadow Isles — but we have yet to hear anything on the book front’s future.

As a longtime fan of League, I’ve followed the specific creators who create champions, story arcs, and other bits of fiction. The recent round of layoffs has removed some of these people from Riot, leaving their creations behind. I worry about how sustainable the current approach is, and I can’t help but look to comics, where the people who have created iconic characters often end up making a fraction of a fraction of the profit corporations make using them in movies and shows. I care about League of Legends because of its lore, and the people who write that lore. Riot moving away from prioritizing these things is, in my eyes, a bad sign.

It’s bad for the developers who are out of work, despite contributing to hugely successful projects and champions. It’s bad for players, who get less lore despite their ongoing investment. And it’s bad for League, which is so packed full of interesting characters and stories that were finally being advanced and wrapped up with Riot Forge. I can only hope that the future proves me wrong, and there’s a way to right the ship.