Riot confirms rumors of fighting game development at Evo 2019

Riot employee Tom Cannon confirmed that the studio was working on a new fighting game at EVO 2019 on August 2.

August 2 1:24 PM PST UPDATE 

Riot Games released an official statement on the upcoming game shortly after Cannon’s revealed the project.

“Riot Games is excited to confirm that we’re developing a fighting game,” the studio said in the release. “We have experienced the profound impact this genre can have on players and want to bring the fighting game experience to more people.”

“We’re working hard to create a game truly worthy of the vibrant fighting game community and are making progress,” they continued. “But still have a long way to go before we’re ready to share more details.”

Original article follows

Cannon – who’s also one of the founders of EVO – dropped the news live on stream and instantly got fans hyped.

He and his team who developed a fighting game called Rising Thunder were brought onto Riot in 2016 and speculation has been going among fans for the reason ever since.

Tom (left) and Tony Cannon, whose team made Rising Thunder and were acquired by Riot Games.

What is Rising Thunder and why are they at Riot?

Rising Thunder was the Cannon brothers’ fighting game, developed with accessibility in mind – all moves could be performed with a single button press, making it one of the most intuitive fighters ever released. 

The pair was picked up by Riot Games with the thought of developing a new title for Riot, long rumored to be the fighting game announced at EVO 2019.

Rising Thunder had some trouble gaining momentum when it was in Alpha, but it only had a few characters at the time. 

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Some small tournaments were held for the game, but with Riot’s full backing, they have the best shot of bringing fighters to the masses — something many developers have tried and ultimately failed to do.

Riot fans have been clamoring for a League of Legends fighting game for some time now, but the closest we’ve come is community made games so far.

Cannon didn’t say much about the upcoming fighting game other than it was being produced by Riot, but a League-themed fighter would make a lot of sense for the company to appeal to their fans.

“I can confirm we’re working on a fighting game for Riot,” Cannon told the shocked EVO casters. 

Now that the game has officially been confirmed fans will be eagerly awaiting and searching for any leaks and details they can turn up on the new game.

A League-themed fighting game could be a hit with Riot’s fans.

Being Riot’s first new game since the release of League of Legends, the still-unnamed fighting game is already getting people hyped.