World of Warcraft’s former lead producer has confirmed that they are jumping ship to work on Riot’s upcoming MMO.
Not much is known about the upcoming Riot League of Legends MMO, other than the fact that it is set in the Runeterra universe. League of Legends itself is reportedly scheduled to receive a major overhaul by 2027, which will seemingly be dubbed as ‘League Next’. However, today we aren’t talking about that title.
Riot MMO Brings in World of Warcraft’s Raymond Bartos
The World of Warcraft’s lead producer, Raymond Bartos, announced his departure from Blizzard last month, after working for 3 years at the company. During that time, Bartos helped push content like Plunderstorm, multiple Remixes, Gear update, Dungeon Followers, Dastardly Duos and more. However, now he is ready to kick-start a new chapter in his game development journey.
Bartos took to X (formerly Twitter) to reveal that he will be moving to Riot Games to work on their upcoming MMO and taking on the role of Senior Game Producer. After working on one of the biggest MMORPGs on the planet, his expertise will be crucial to developing this project. The values of Riot Games were influential in securing Bartos, with the former WoW lead producer revealing that “kindness, respect, and care aren’t just words” at Riot, and it is something the “team truly lives by”.
Regarding Riot’s MMO, the last major update was back in 2024, when the company’s co-founder spoke about future plans. At the time, they had decided to reset the direction of the project. Resetting also meant that they would be “going dark” for “several years,” and that seems to be the case. The company doesn’t want to create an MMO that players have played before with a Runeterra coat of paint. Instead, they want to do something “that truly feels like a significant evolution of the genre.”
In other news, Riot Games has congratulated Hytale’s early access launch, six months after cancelling the game. What are your thoughts on Riot MMO securing World of Warcraft’s lead producer? Leave your thoughts down in the comments, and join the official Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more information from Insider Gaming, read about Bungie officially revealing Marathon’s release date. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
