Riot Games and Riot Forge announced today that Ruined King: A League of Legends Story will launch on console and PC in early 2021, bringing the popular LoL brand into the realm of single-player, turn-based RPGs - and possibly resurrecting the classic genre as a result, should the game be as good as the company's other projects. Riot Forge was established in 2019 as a publisher with the task of bringing the League of Legends brand to other genres and players, and is working with developer Airship Syndicate to build out Ruined King: A League of Legends Story, which was first announced in 2019.

For those unfamiliar with the global phenomenon, League of Legends is a MOBA title from Riot that has firmly established itself as one of the most dominant esports in the world. On top of a competitive scene that features some of the most talented athletes in gaming, however, League of Legends also remains a favorite among casual fans, boasting a playerbase that is as passionate as it is universal. The League of Legends universe has also been successfully expanded into two other titles: Teamfight Tactics, an auto-battler that has become a popular side-game for many fans (and main game for others), and Legends of Runeterra, an online card game that seeks to occupy the same space as Magic: The Gathering and Hearthstone.

During the League of Legends World Championships today, Riot Forge was given the opportunity to announce an update on the next game to take place in the game's universe. Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is a single-player, turn-based RPG that is set in two different regions: Bilgewater, a pirate and smuggler haven port town in Runeterra, and the Shadow Isles, cursed with Black Mist that corrupts those who are unfortunate enough to make contact with it. There are plenty of League of Legends characters involved in Ruined King, too, with Riot confirming that the game's party will be made up of Miss Fortune, Braum, Pyke, Illaoi, Yasuo, and Ahri. It's a cast that consists of some of the game's most popular characters, and it's an exciting opportunity for fans to get to know them better.


Riot Forge also stated it would have more information to share in December, so fans looking forward to Ruined King: A League of Legends Story will have more to go off of soon. It's an exciting proposal, however, and one that could genuinely breathe some new life into turn-based classic RPG stylings, which have been under-represented as more games skew towards dynamic, action-based systems. While the latter certainly has its merits, plenty of fans enjoy turn-based, too, and given Riot's track record with League of Legends-based games, there's good reason to suspect the title could be extremely entertaining.

Of course, Teamfight Tactics and Legends of Runeterra both capitalized on gaming genres that were growing in popularity or enjoying stable engagement at the time. Single-player turn-based RPGs are a riskier proposition, but the overlap in fans of auto-chess and card games is likely pretty strong. On top of that, fans are hungry for more League of Legends lore for their favorite characters, and a single-player RPG is the ideal place to grow that out. Given all of the influences at play here, Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is one to watch moving into 2021.

Ruined King: A League of Legends Story releases in early 2021 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, with launches coming for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S "soon thereafter."