Riot Canceled Their Own Smash Bros. Game

Summary

Riot Games recently canceled the development of 'Pool Party,' a platform fighter game set in the League of Legends universe, reflecting the company's strategic reassessment of the esports market and the genre's popularity. With esports profitability declining and the fighting game genre being volatile, Riot's decision to focus on other projects like '2x KO' and the rising success of 'Valorant' aligns with their trend of refining and evolving game genres. The cancellation highlights the challenges of creating a hit in the competitive party fighter space, where few games have achieved the viral success of 'Super Smash Bros.'

Takeaways

• 📰 Riot Games recently canceled a game project, reflecting its current strategic decisions.
• 🤝 The news was initially reported by Miky Clov from the Washington Post, indicating a credible source.
• 🕹️ Riot was known for a long time primarily for League of Legends but has since expanded its game portfolio.
• 📅 Riot announced several new titles during their anniversary, including Legends of Runeterra, Valorant, Project L, and Project F.
• ⚔️ Riot's canceled game, codenamed 'Pool Party,' was a platform fighter similar to Super Smash Bros, involving 70-80 employees.
• 🎮 Riot has found success by identifying market gaps and evolving game genres, with Valorant being a notable success.
• 📉 The cancellation was partly due to a reassessment of the viability of the esports scene and the specific game's genre.
• 🔄 Many employees from the canceled project were reassigned within Riot, though some were laid off.
• ⚖️ The platform fighter genre has a challenging history with balancing and maintaining player interest, influencing Riot's decision.
• 🎉 Riot's focus on broader, more casual audiences for their games has contributed to their success in various genres.

Q & A

What is the significance of the news about Riot Games cancelling a game?

The news is significant because it reflects on Riot's current strategy and decision-making process, showing their willingness to cancel projects that may not align with their long-term goals or market trends.

Who originally broke the news about Riot Games cancelling a project?

The news was originally broken out by Miky Clout, who is responsible for covering gaming news for the Washington Post, indicating a credible source.

What is Riot Games' history with game development prior to this cancellation?

Riot Games was known for focusing on 'League of Legends' for about 10 years. They later diversified with games like 'Teamfight Tactics', 'Legends of Runeterra', and projects like Project L and Project F, as well as Riot Forge for indie games.

What is the codename of the cancelled Riot Games project?

The cancelled project was codenamed 'Pool Party'.

How many employees were working on 'Pool Party' when it was cancelled?

Approximately 70 to 80 employees were working on 'Pool Party' when it was cancelled.

What genre was 'Pool Party' intended to be, and how does it relate to existing games?

'Pool Party' was intended to be a platform fighter game, similar to 'Super Smash Bros', set within the League of Legends universe.

Why did Riot Games consider developing a platform fighter game?

Riot Games saw an opportunity to build and support the game's esports scene, as they believed they could offer more to the competitive ecosystem than existing companies like Nintendo.

What factors might have contributed to the cancellation of 'Pool Party'?

Factors include a shift in the esports scene's profitability, difficulty in creating a successful platform fighter game, and a reassessment of consumer appetite for a 'Smash' competitor.

What happened to the 'Pool Party' team after the project was cancelled?

Approximately half of the team received offers to be reassigned within Riot Games, while others sought new positions or were potentially laid off.

What is the current status of Riot Games' other fighting game project, '2x KO'?

'2x KO' is still under development with a planned release in 2025, and the team is continuing their work on this title.

How does the cancellation of 'Pool Party' reflect on the broader trends in the gaming industry?

The cancellation reflects a cautious approach by Riot Games to the gaming market, where they are prioritizing projects with higher potential for success and avoiding genres that are difficult to break into or are experiencing a downturn.

Outlines

00:00

🕹️ Riot Cancels 'Pool Party': A Prototype Platform Fighter

Riot Games, known for their strategic approach to game development, recently canceled a project titled 'Pool Party', a platform fighter set in the League of Legends universe. The decision reflects Riot's current operational strategy, which involves closely monitoring market trends and evolving game genres. 'Pool Party' was expected to compete with popular titles like Super Smash Bros., offering a unique esports potential due to Riot's proactive approach to game scene development. However, the cancellation suggests a reassessment of the esports profitability and the difficulty of creating a successful platform fighter from scratch. Approximately 70 to 80 employees were involved in the project, and following its cancellation, many were reassigned within Riot, while others sought new opportunities.

05:01

🏆 The Competitive Landscape of Esports and Platform Fighters

The esports industry has seen a shift in profitability, affecting Riot Games' decision to cancel their platform fighter 'Pool Party'. The company recognized the challenges of entering the competitive esports scene with a new game, especially considering the budget cuts and financial constraints faced by major titles like League of Legends. The platform fighting genre, despite having a few successful examples like Smash Bros., has proven difficult for other companies to replicate, with many games in the genre failing to gain traction or being shut down. Riot's decision to cancel 'Pool Party' was also influenced by the genre's volatility and the internal desire to focus on a single fighting game at a time.

10:01

🔄 Shift in Development Focus: From Hardcore to Casual Gaming

The original vision for 'Pool Party' as a hardcore fighting game evolved over time to include more casual and party game elements, a change that led to internal frustrations among the development team. Riot Games' success has been built on serving a broader audience, not just the hardcore gaming community. This shift in development focus aimed to appeal to a wider player base, which may have contributed to the game's cancellation as it no longer aligned with the original vision. The post also notes that Riot is still committed to developing other fighting games, such as '2x KO', which is expected to release in 2025, indicating a continued interest in the genre despite the setbacks.

Keywords

💡Riot Games

Riot Games is a video game developer and publisher known for creating the popular game 'League of Legends'. In the context of the video, Riot Games is highlighted for its strategic approach to game development and market trends, as well as its decision to cancel a project that did not align with their vision or market potential.

💡Cancelled Game

The term 'Cancelled Game' refers to a video game project that was in development but was stopped before completion. In the video, it is used to describe Riot Games' decision to halt the development of a prototype platform fighter, which reflects the company's strategic evaluation of market opportunities and risks.

💡Esports

Esports is a form of competitive video gaming where players participate in organized, multiplayer video game competitions. The video discusses Riot Games' interest in developing games with potential for an Esports scene, highlighting how the company sees opportunities in genres with less competition, but also the challenges and shifts in the profitability of Esports.

💡Market Trends

Market trends refer to the general direction in which a market is developing. The video script mentions how Riot Games looks at the biggest trends in gaming to evolve them into something better, which is a key strategy in their game development and release process.

💡Prototype

A prototype in game development is an early sample or model of a game used for testing and demonstration purposes. The video script refers to 'Pool Party' as a prototype platform fighter, indicating it was in the early stages of development before being cancelled.

💡Platform Fighter

A platform fighter is a subgenre of fighting games that includes elements typical of platform games, such as jumping and climbing. The script mentions 'Pool Party' as a platform fighter in the vein of 'Super Smash Bros', set in the 'League of Legends' universe, indicating the game's intended style and setting.

💡Live Service

A live service game is a type of video game that is continually updated and maintained over time, often with additional content and services. The video discusses Riot Games' consideration of the live service model and its implications for game profitability and player engagement.

💡Competitive Ecosystem

The competitive ecosystem in gaming refers to the environment in which competitive gaming thrives, including the support and structure provided by game developers. The script notes Riot Games' interest in supporting a game's Esports scene, contrasting with Nintendo's hands-off approach to 'Smash' competitions.

💡Genre

In the context of video games, a genre refers to a category of games that share similar gameplay, themes, or mechanics. The video discusses Riot Games' strategy of entering and evolving various game genres, such as MMOs and fighting games, to capitalize on market opportunities.

💡Reassignment

Reassignment in a corporate context refers to the process of moving employees from one project or department to another. The video mentions that approximately half of the 'Pool Party' team was offered reassignment within Riot Games after the project's cancellation, showing the company's approach to reallocating resources.

💡Valerant

Valerant is a popular first-person shooter game developed by Riot Games. The script uses it as an example of Riot's success in taking the former glory of games like 'Counter-Strike' and giving them a new spin, demonstrating the company's ability to innovate within established game genres.

Highlights

Riot Games cancelled a prototype platform fighter game, codenamed 'Pool Party', reflecting on how Riot is currently functioning.

The news was broken out by Miky Clout, a credible source from the Washington Post, covering gaming news.

Riot Games has a history of creating successful games by polishing genres and seizing market opportunities.

Riot's strategy involves avoiding direct competition with established games like Hearthstone and focusing on evolving game genres.

TFT (Teamfight Tactics) has been a massive success, dominating its genre and deterring competition.

Valorant has become Riot's biggest success, overtaking League of Legends in growth in almost half of the world.

Riot is known for looking at gaming trends and evolving them into better experiences, as seen with their MMO and single-player games.

The cancellation of 'Pool Party' was influenced by a reassessment of consumer appetite for a Smash competitor.

Approximately 70 to 80 employees were working on 'Pool Party', a significant team size compared to Riot's workforce.

The original pitch for 'Pool Party' was as a platform fighter in the style of Super Smash Bros., set in the League of Legends universe.

Riot saw an opportunity to build and support an esports scene for 'Pool Party', unlike Nintendo's approach to Smash.

Esports profitability has declined, influencing Riot's decision to cancel 'Pool Party' and reassess their live service games.

The difficulty of creating a mega-hit in the platform fighter genre, with Smash Bros. being the only truly viral game, contributed to the cancellation.

Half of the 'Pool Party' team was offered reassignment within Riot, while others sought new positions.

The cancellation was also influenced by the perceived failure of 'Multiverses', a free-to-play fighting game by Warner Bros.

The shift from a hardcore fighting game to include casual elements in 'Pool Party' caused internal frustration among staff.

Riot's focus on serving the broader audience and the challenges of the fighting game genre influenced the decision to cancel 'Pool Party'.

The head organizer of the 'Big House' Smash Bros. tournament series announced an indefinite hiatus, reflecting broader challenges in the party fighter genre.

Transcripts

you see sometimes you have to get out

there to get some news but sometimes the

news happen to find you and only a few

days ago a really interesting piece of

news surfaced about a game which Riot

has worked on for a while and then they

decided to cancel it and the reason why

this is really interesting is because it

reflects on how RI is functioning these

days the news was originally Broken Out

by miky clov who is responsible for

covering some G news for Washington Post

meaning that we are likely dealing with

a credible source with the core of the

news being a cancelled Riot game now

before we dive into the specifics of

that it would be a good idea to talk

about how Riot is handling its titles at

this point it's no secret that for about

10 years Riot games was Meed to be riots

game because for those initial 10 years

they have only ever had League of

Legends then they set separated TF from

League of Legends to be its own game and

then of course the anniversary happened

where they announced Legends of Runa

valent project L and project F which we

haven't heard about in a while and then

we got Riot Forge announced which

started pumping out indie games and here

we need to talk about why R announced

the games they did simply said RI is

really good at taking game genres and

polishing the crap out of of them the

moment they smell an opening in a market

they are confident they can take a piece

of that pie Legends of Runa got into a

sketchy spot because they were planning

to release the game just as Hearthstone

was originally released but they didn't

want to compete so they delayed it and

then they were just fighting with Time

Project L now known as 2x KO is trying

to make a dent in the fighting scene

where companies are notorious for

refusing to evolve the game genre

project f

well we still have no idea what's

happening there TFT was such a big

success that they are so far ahead that

not only did they dominate the entire

game genre but other companies don't

even try to compete with them and then

most importantly there is valerent which

is R's biggest success where they took

the former glory of the original

Counterstrike games and they gave them a

new Spin and what's cool about this is

that these days valerent may be

considered Riot's biggest game it

actually managed to overtake league in

almost half of the world with its growth

still being bigger than leagues and

again all of this stems from Riot

looking at the biggest Trends in gaming

and trying to evolve them into something

better that is also why R is trying to

do something with the MMO they know the

potential is there but they don't want

to copy what already exists that's

really why the entire project was reset

and after they shut down RI Forge they

immediately confirmed that they are

making their own single player games

because those are rising in popularity

again and to top all of this off we know

that R is constantly working on new

games in the background because from the

job listings we know that there are at

least two separate R&D projects and

yesterday we got the news that one such

project was was cancelled so let's have

a look at what it was as the post on

reader graev says Riot games cancelled

work on a prototype platform fighter

Coden named pool party in late May

according to current and former Riot

games employees familiar with the

decision approximately 70 to 80

employees were working on the game when

it was shattered so from this we learned

that the code name for the game was pool

party and that the theme was decently

big

having 70 to 80 employees working on a

game is no joke when the big layoffs

happened ride let go of 530 employees

and at that time that was about 11% of

their Workforce so here we are talking

about the size of a team that could push

out a big success just like valerant but

then the post continues sources familiar

with the project described the original

pitch for pool party as a platform f

fighter in the veins of Super Smash Bros

Millie set in the League of Legends

Universe Ride game Saw an opportunity to

build and support the game's Esports

scene unlike Nintendo which is

notoriously hands-off and even hostile

towards the smash competitive ecosystem

this is honestly nuts but the more you

dig into this the more it makes sense it

makes sense for right to try and make a

hit with this game genre because if they

focus on Esports here they debble into

something that has little to no

competition but for that reason

specifically it also makes sense why

they cancelled it from all the recent

news we know that Esports are simply not

as profitable as they once used to be

league is a good example of this we

constantly hear about budget cuts and

reconstructing and yes even the $500 AR

skin was technically there to help with

the costs that's why it is a essentially

an Esports skin so depending on how long

this game has been in the works it is

possible that Riot saw a shift in the

Esports scene and they realized they

don't want to have another live service

competitive PVP game on their hands and

the other big reason why they likely

cancel this game is because it's really

hard to make a mega hit using this game

genre if you look around the only truly

viral game here is Smash Bros a lot of

other companies tried but it's simply

really hard to make this game good from

scratch with really good balancing of

the character roster with Hyper

responsive gameplay and most importantly

with a good character lineup although

that specifically might be the reason

why R considered this game in the first

place it is possible they realized their

character lineup is really good

considering the fact that they would be

using the League of Legends universe but

alas this game genre simply doesn't have

a great history I mean look at braw Hala

multiverses Nickelodeon Allstars Rivals

of ether and even my favorite which

didn't make it that far the PlayStation

Allstars Battle Royale which isn't a

battle royale this game came out in 2012

that name was way ahead of what the

title would eventually become anyway

while some of these became good games on

their own a lot of these had to be

eventually shut down and re worked

because the interest in this genre as it

is went down and that's why I believe R

made a good decision in pulling the cord

here which is also interesting because

the fighting game genre is also

extremely volatile so maybe R just

wanted to focus on one fighting game at

a time anyway the post then continues a

source familiar with the Staffing

decisions at Riot said that

approximately half of the team had

received an offer to be reassigned with

within the studio While others were in

the process of seeking new positions

throughout the company's internal job

board 10 people had not received an

offer and were not in the process of

applying internally presumably those

workers were either laid off or left the

company this honestly makes sense

because of what I just mentioned if RI

is trying to spin up two fighting games

at the same time it makes sense for one

of them to take a step back and for the

other one to use the talent that was

working there that's why a lot of the

workforce was likely moved around the

company and then we got a line that

plays precisely into what we talked

about with the other games pool party

cancellation was precipated in part by a

reassessment of consumer appetite for a

smash competitor according to sources

familiar with the Project's development

Executives at Riot were spooked by what

they perceived as the failure of

multiverses a free-to-play fighting game

starring characters from franchises

owned by Warner Bros on hly I would be

spooked too you see the reason why these

party Fighters worked so well in the

past is because they were mainly party

Fighters their main demographic is kids

sharing controllers around the same

console so they can play together it was

all within a friendly competition people

played the older Smash games for fun

with their friends to a big degree when

Smash Bros ultimate came out that was

the players who bought the game but

there it started having a little bit of

a downturn because the moment you

introduced internet play and matchmaking

and I know that ultimate wasn't the

first one to do this well now the game

is perceived to be a lot more

competitive and I'm not saying that

adding in matchmaking is a bad decision

but it would be foolish to not accept

that this also shifted a bit of the

audience so the post then continues

about this issue specifically originally

envisioned as a hardcore fighting game

the pitch for pool party changed over

the course of the development shifting

to include party game elements and

Casual friendly mechanics the change in

scope and vision frustrated some staff

on the project the crazy thing here is

that I believe R was on the right path

again the original vision of Smash Bros

was throwing around Pokeballs and

smashing your friends with the Home Run

bat no not one-on-one Fox battles on

Final Destination the Casual audience

which definitely makes over 99% of your

player base here doesn't care about that

it is a cool spectacle when pros play

this game but casuals don't want to play

that and it seems like some people at

Riot realized this and they started

making the right decisions but the devs

who liked the hardcore fighting didn't

like that which makes sense if you are

passionate about the game genre but the

success of Riot's games is serving the

broader audience so the post then

continues pool party Bears no relation

to the other fighting game under

development at Riot games the 2v2 team

based fighter 2x KO the developer is

still working on the letter title which

is slatest to release in 2025 I mean we

just learned about Braum coming to the

game so the post then finishes

coincidentally on Tuesday the head

organizer of the big house Smash Bros

tournament series announced that the

event regarded by the fans as one of the

Marquee annual events in the smash

competitive scene was going on in

definite Hiatus the organizer Robin harn

cited a number of personal issues as

well as broader logistical and Industry

related challenges in his decision to

put a pause on hosting the event and

there you have it it seems like the

party Fighter game genre is not having

the best time and it seems like there

were multiple reasons why Riot's version

of such game was cancelled I mean

looking around again it makes sense many

different Studios tried to succeed on

this battlefield and every single one of

them failed or at least they failed to

go viral because success can be also

seen on a smaller scale I mean look at

Rivals of ether they announced that they

are working on a sequel simply titled

Rivals 2 and as far as I know that game

is being published by L Wick's

publishing studio so that's a game that

is still trying to break through but on

the other side some other games failed

even after attaching some big names to

them and the crazy part about all of

this is that when you take a step back

and you look at the King of the Hill

Super Smash Bros ultimate which is the

latest installment in the series also

became the highest selling fighting game

of all times so you know what

maybe R missed out on a really big game