Riot announce The Mageseeker, 2023's third League Of Legends spin-off
Sylas leads a revolution this Spring
Riot have announced a brand new (previously leaked) League Of Legends spin-off coming this year. The Mageseeker: A League Of Legends Story is a 2D action RPG from Digital Sun, the dev team behind Moonlighter, which was a delightful fusion of roguelike action and shopkeeping. The Mageseeker is launching this spring, while the other LoL spin-offs have also received release windows for 2023.
The Mageseeker follows the escaped mage Sylas on his revenge journey through the kingdom of Demacia. The kingdom has maintained peace with the blood of mages, so, of course, Sylas raises an army of rogue mages and leads a revolution. Riot describe the game as “an action-packed fantasy,” exploring themes of “power, identity, and justice.” Moonlighter was an interesting, moreish game, despite its simple combat, so I’m interested to see how the team expands their action chops while applying some new, fresh features to the LoL world.
The other two previously announced LoL spin-offs finally received launch windows for this year, too. The time-bending platformer Convergence is set to launch later this summer, while the single-player adventure Song Of Nunu is releasing this fall from the team behind the gorgeous Rime, Tequila Works. Song Of Nunu, in particular, has my attention with its charming snowscapes and the central relationship between a young kid and a protective beast. Both games are launching on PC and consoles, and Riot say they’ll reveal more details in the coming months.
The League Of Legends stories come from Riot Forge, a publishing initiative focused on outsourcing single-player games to outside teams, while fleshing out League’s world and characters. Riot Forge are rapidly expanding LoL in all directions with two supporting games released in 2021, and the beloved Netflix show Arcane, that has a second season incoming. 2023 could be their biggest year yet as three ancillary LoL stories are launching this year - starting with The Mageseeker in spring - despite the recent layoffs, code being ransomed, and a bankrupt crypto deal.