Riot Games is set to expand the League of Legends universe further still with a fighting game next year in the form of 2XKO, though reportedly, until not too long ago, it wasn’t the only fighting game set in the League universe that the company was working on.
Journalist Mikhail Klimentov has claimed that Riot Games was working on a platform fighting game codenamed Pool Party that was inspired by Super Smash Bros. before cancelling it earlier this year. Specifically, the company was aiming to focus the game on esports and take cues from Super Smash Bros. Melee in particular, and had a team of 70-80 people working on it until its cancellation in May.
Klimentov claims that though Pool Party was originally envisioned as a hardcore platform fighter with a keen emphasis placed on esports, Riot Games leadership was alarmed by the failure of MultiVersus, WB Games’ free-to-play Smash-inspired platform fighter. Over the course of Pool Party’s development, attempts were made to introduce more casual elements, much to the dismay of many in the development team, including even party game elements.
Riot Games’ senior comms director Joe Hixson said on the report, “We always have a number of projects in various phases of R&D, and spinning projects up and down happens multiple times a year.”
Klimentov’s report claims that about half of Pool Party’s development team received offers to be reassigned to other projects within Riot Games following the title’s cancellation, with others looking for roles elsewhere through the company’s internal job board.