Riot Forge

Riot Forge was a video game publishing label created by Riot Games, developers of the MOBA video game League of Legends. Its purpose was to fund various critically-acclaimed indie game studios to create spin-off games in the fictional universe of Runeterra, generally centered around one or more of the series' playable characters, or Champions. The label was initially created in 2019, and a number of games were published under it with generally positive critical reception. Riot Forge was shut down five years later in January 2024, during the 2023–2024 video game industry layoffs prompted by a post-COVID-19 pandemic drop in video game demand. The shutdown of Riot Forge was bemoaned by critics, who praised the publishing label for supporting indie developers and allowing non-competitive players to become immersed in the series' lore. They blamed a lack of marketing or attention from the company for apparent poor sales of the games, noting that many players had no idea the spin-offs even existed.