Some of the creative minds behind many of Riot Games’ titles are joining forces once again, this time in pursuit of a standalone effort that aims to tap into a new generation of the popular genre.
Michael Chow, former Riot VP, and Steven Snow, Riot co-founder and previous executive producer League of Legends, have joined forces again — but this time to create a new game studio, The Believer Company. They are joined by other big names from Riot and beyond, including Jeff Ju, Tim Hsu, Landon McDowell, Shankar Gupta-Harrison, and Grace Park, among others who will likely join as the team grows.
The team’s first project is set to be a “next-gen open-world game” with a new IP, and it’s also noted that player choices will greatly influence the direction of the story and the events that unfold. But any further details about the game and its development are not expected to be revealed anytime soon, as the team wants the direction of the game to be different from that of other open-world games.
“We want to take the time to get it right because world-class research and development takes time,” Chow explained in interview with James Batchelor of Gamesindustry.biz. “It requires a lot of risk, it requires both creation and discovery, which are subtly but importantly different.”
Chow also noted that the team is already looking at ways to expand its new IP beyond just video games, something he and the rest of The Believer Company are well aware of following their previous efforts.
The team is kicking off with an announced $55 million USD that will be used to attract more creative minds and work on the open world title.