Riot Games has been developing and building on League of Legends for over ten years now, only just starting to venture out into new titles very recently with the launch of its CCG Legends of Runeterra and the beta release of Valorant, a competitive team-based shooter. Yet while nearly all of their projects to date have been developed internally, that isn’t stopping them from branching out and, as of yesterday, acquiring outside studios. Such is the case with Hypixel Studios, who are now officially owned by Riot Games.
Who are Hypixel Studios? Well, they haven’t exactly done too much yet. Their highly anticipated Minecraft-inspired RPG Hytale is out next year and from the trailers, one doesn’t need to think too hard about why Riot might be interested in the studio. CEO of Hypixel, Aaron Donaghey stated in a press release, “Since our first meetings with Riot leadership long before their initial investment, we’ve found in Riot a partner with a similar commitment to empowering players.
As development kicks into high gear, we’ll benefit from Riot’s resources, expertise, and experience while maintaining the operational independence that has enabled our success so far.
Riot and Hypixel actually go way back, with Riot Games being one of the studios initial investors back when it launched.
So in a way, it’s like a Sugar Daddy eventually marrying the young feisty woman he’s been courting for several years now. Is that a slightly weird simile? You bet your ass it is. “We’ll continue to operate in the same way as we have before, but Riot will become our parent company and we’ll gain access to their expertise and resources. This means a bigger budget for Hytale, more security for our team, and advisory support from a company that knows how to launch and operate successful, long-running games”, continued Donaghey.
Okay, the fact that he said “parent company” makes that simile much weirder.
Last Updated: April 17, 2020
