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Riot Games is one of the most famous developers for creating League of Legends and Valorant. It’s been a big year for Valorant so far with the game joining consoles, and Riot has a lot of exciting plans for the remainder of 2024. But, in unfortunate recent news, Riot has reportedly cancelled a new game said to be set in the League of Legends universe.
There is a lot to be excited about for both League of Legends and Valorant. In the world of Riot’s first-person multiplayer shooter, the developer has begun teasing the new agent for Episode 9. There is no update 9.01 this week due to a delay, but it will arrive soon.
As for League of Legends, Riot is developing multiple spin-offs. A future MMO is still in-development despite being reset, and fans still have the Project L fighter to anticipate. While these games are still cooking in the oven, another in-development prospect has been cancelled.
Riot Games cancels new League of Legends x Smash Bros. fighting game
According to Mikhail Klimentov on ReaderGrev, Riot Games has cancelled an unannounced game called Pool Party. While it was unannounced, it was reportedly a melee-like platform fighter in the mould of Smash Bros. and set in the universe of League of Legends.
Per “sources familiar with the project,” the game was initially conceived as an opportunity to create a Super Smash Bros. experience with a heavy eSports scene. However, it is no longer happening with development shut down.
It was being worked on by approximately 70-80 employees, and it’s reported that “approximately half of the team had received an offer to be reassigned within the studio, while others were in the process of seeking new positions through the company’s internal job board”.
As for why the game was cancelled, the report says “executives at Riot were spooked by what they perceived as the failure of MultiVersus”. The lacklustre response to MultiVersus has been regarded as a lack of appetite on behalf of consumers for a Smash competitor.
In addition to the failure of MultiVersus, development was reportedly frustrating. It was originally pitched as a hardcore fighting game, but the vision for Pool Party changed during development “to include party game elements and casual-friendly mechanics,” leading to a change of scope that frustrated members of the development team.
While the cancellation is unfortunate, there’s still plenty else to look forward to from Riot Games. Valorant is coming to PS5 and Xbox consoles fully this fall, and the release date window for the League of Legends fighter, Project L, is 2025.
For more Valorant, check out our 18 tips on how to get better at the game along with our guide for how to appear offline if you don’t want certain friends knowing you’re playing. We also have guides for how to chat with the team, all, and private, along with how to add friends.
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