Image: Riot Forge
In addition to being synonymous with the MOBA genre and more popular than the last wheel of imported brie in a San Francisco Whole Foods, League of Legends is becoming a bona fide media franchise. On top of multiplayer games like Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runtera, and the mobile spinoff Wild Rift, not to mention the popular Netflix series Arcane, publisher Riot has announced no less than three new single-player spinoffs from notable indie developers, all set for release in 2023.
Each game is a distinct work, expanding on different aspects of LoL’s dizzyingly divergent lore. First up is Convergence (or as it’s stylized, “CONV/RGENCE“). It’s a 2D action-platformer starring the time-bending Ekko as he bounces around the streets of Zaun and Piltover. It comes from Double Stallion, makers of the steampunk racing-beat-em-up Speed Brawl, with a similar cartoony art style.
The Mageseeker is a 2D action-RPG starring the spell-slinging, chain-swinging Sylas. It’s stuffed with gorgeous pixel art, which will look familiar to anyone who played developer Digital Sun’s 2018 hit Moonlighter. That was a dungeon crawler that had you work as a shopkeeper in between fighting off hoards of monsters.
The last and most ambitious single-player spinoff is Song of Nunu, a full 3D platforming game from Rime and Sexy Brutale developer Tequila Works. LoL characters Nunu and his big yeti-like companion Willump need to work together to survive in a vast frozen land. It sort of looks like a mix of Zelda and The Last Guardian, albeit much cuter than the latter.
All three games are subtitled “A League of Legends Story,” like the turn-based RPG Ruined King from 2021. And, according to the trailer from Riot’s incubator company Riot Forge, all three of them will release sometime in 2023 on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch. If you feel like diving deep into the lore of your favorite MOBA, you’ll get your chance later this year.
