After joining Riot Games way back in 2015, initially as lead gameplay producer, Jeremy ‘Brightmoon’ Lee has announced his intention to step down from his most recent position of executive producer. The news was announced during the final ‘Dev Update’ for 2023, covering Split 2 rewards and monetization.
Hosting the video alongside senior vice president Andrei ‘Meddler’ van Roon, Lee’s address will not be his last contribution to the world of League of Legends. “You’ll still see me in Season Start and possibly some other things earlier in the year while we such for our next EP to lead the game,” he confirmed. “Unfortunately, Lil Nas X isn’t available.”
The joke is a cute one and rather relieving to see from a man who has had plenty of stress to handle over the past 12 months. Describing 2023 as a whirlwind, Lee has had to manage a large number of community gripes. Almost immediately at the turn of the year, Riot came under fire for the poorly received and underwhelming new season cinematic. Most controversially, a decision to lock a new Mythic chroma for Dark Cosmic Jhin behind a gacha mechanic was universally disliked.
With the search now on for his replacement, this soft transition makes plenty of sense for Lee since he is set to remain with Riot Games. “While this is bittersweet, it’s definitely not goodbye,” the outgoing producer confirmed. “I’ll be doing some other stuff at Riot and I’ll be looking forward to reconnecting when the time is right.”
Quite what this alludes to is anybody’s guess at this stage; only the man himself and a select few know at this point. If one were to hazard a guess, the heightened secrecy might well be pointing toward a role within the Project L team. The 2v2 team-based fighting game, which has been slowly ramping up in visibility, is a way out yet. There is no confirmation on an official game title, although a playable demo should make an appearance at EVO Japan 2024 in Tokyo.
It is quite telling that the majority of social media reactions choose to focus on the content discussed within the video rather than pay tribute to Lee. Yet, where he is mentioned, the sentiment has been kind. “Brightmoon is such a natural communicator,” wrote one YouTube user, “you will be missed.”
Over on Reddit, Lee thanked one user personally for their regards. “I love this game and this community and will still be around and cheering you all on. I look forward to introducing you to the next EP soon!” This could well mean that the appointment will be confirmed sooner rather than later.
