Riot Games soon launches a spin-off from the League of Legends Universe titled Ruined King, which we got a sneak peek at The Game Awards 2020. We’ve already seen the card game Legends of Runeterra, and more games in new genres for the series are also getting produced. The game was not produced internally by Riot Games like League of Legends or Valorant, it’s produced by a division of Riot Games called Riot Forge, which is responsible for producing League of Legends spin-off along with other developers.
Airship Syndicate, a Texan developer known for games like Battle Chasers: Nightwar and Darksiders Genesis, is the team that’s specifically working on Ruined King.
Here’s everything we know so far about Ruined King: A League of Legends Story:
Release Date
Ruined King: A League of Legends Story reemerged at the 2020 World Championship Finals in October 2020 where Riot claimed that the game will be released in early 2021. That was changed to a vague 2021 release window. Basically, it had to be delayed so the game could get polished more and become the best it could be. No specific date has been given but we can expect the game to drop in the first half of 2021.
Trailer
The trailer features many of the characters we’ll encounter during the game, including Miss Fortune, Illaoi, Braum, Yasuo, Ahri, and Pyke. Check it out for yourself below:
Platforms
At launch, Ruined King will be available on the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Next-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game are also in the works, though they won’t be ready for the initial launch and will come out “soon thereafter” according to a press release. Owners of the game on current-gen consoles will get the free upgrade for next-gen via the “smart delivery” feature.
Gameplay
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Riot Forge described Ruined King as a single-player, turn-based RPG that teases a lot of League of Legends‘ lore for quite a while, but didn’t show any gameplay. That finally changed at The Game Awards. It mostly plays out from a 3D top-down perspective until players get into a fight. Once that happens, players engage in turn-based combat set up like a classic RPG.
It isn’t necessary to know how to play League of Legends to play Ruined King. Riot intends to introduce new players to the world of Runeterra with games like this.
Story
While specifics of the story have been kept vague, Riot has confirmed which areas and champions we will be seeing in Ruined King. The game takes place in Bilgewater, which is described by the developers as a “port town that is home to sea monster hunters, dock gangs, and smugglers.”
Players will also visit the Shadow Isles, which is a mystical area that’s covered in a toxic Blac Mist. As mentioned earlier, the main party will consist of Miss Fortune, Illaoi, Braum, Yasuo, Ahri, and Pyke, and it wouldn’t be surprising if more League of Legends characters showed up in the game. Even if that’s it, Ruined King should delve into these characters and places much more than League of Legends itself even could.
So if you’re a newcomer to the LoL franchise, this would be a good game to start with to get immersed in the lore! That’s not to say that series veterans wouldn’t enjoy a fresh take on their favorite champions either!