Riot Games Responds to Rumors That It’s Developing a Deadlock Competitor

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Riot Games Responds to Rumors That It's Developing a Deadlock Competitor

Key Takeaways

  • Riot Games‘ communication manager shuts down rumors of the studio developing a $200 million Deadlock competitor in collaboration with Tencent.
  • No project like Deadlock is currently in the works at Riot Games’ R&D department.
  • Riot Games is instead working on a free-to-play fighting game dubbed 2XKO, transitioning Valorant to Unreal Engine 5, and an unannounced MMO.

As a seasoned gamer who has seen more than my fair share of gaming rumors come and go, I can’t help but feel a sense of relief when one turns out to be as baseless as the recent Deadlock competitor rumor involving Riot Games. The whole thing was as credible as a doctored PC Gamer article, which is saying something.

Riot Games has officially dismissed a recent speculation suggesting they are working on a game similar to Valve’s upcoming hero shooter, Deadlock. The questionable origin of the rumor had already raised doubts about its validity, but Riot Games’ clear denial completely invalidates it.

Riot Games boasts two highly popular live-service games: League of Legends and Valorant. These games draw millions of daily players each, making them highly successful for Riot Games. While League of Legends is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game and Valorant is a hero shooter, Valve’s latest live-service game, Deadlock, combines these genres into a distinctive mix. As of now, Deadlock is in an alpha testing phase, yet it manages to attract approximately 100,000 players daily.

It seems that various game development companies might be inspired by the distinctive features of Deadlock for their future projects. However, a baseless claim surfaced suggesting that Riot Games received a substantial $200 million investment from Tencent to create a competitor for Deadlock. This claim was doubtful from the start, given its sole source being a manipulated PC Gamer article. Now, Riot Games’ communication manager, Joe Hixson, has debunked this rumor through a recent tweet.

Riot Games Has “Nothing Like Deadlock” in Development

Hixson directly dismissed the rumor as completely false, explaining that neither the supposed article nor any funding from Tencent for Riot Games’ development in an arbitrary manner exists. To emphasize his point, he added that no project similar to “Deadlock” is being developed at Riot Games’ research and development department. As for confirmed projects, Riot Games is currently working on two new titles within the universe of “League of Legends“. The first is a 2025-launching free-to-play fighting game named “2XKO“, and the second project remains unannounced, but it’s further along in development.

Given the current workload at Riot Games, which includes transitioning Valorant to Unreal Engine 5 and managing its already successful MOBAs and hero shooters, it seems unlikely that they are also developing a large-scale Deadlock competitor. Instead, Riot Games’ focus appears to be on capitalizing in the fighting game genre, as indicated by their in-development and canceled projects. The upcoming game 2XKO is showing promise with players, which could potentially make it another hit for Riot when it releases next year.

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2024-10-06 20:44