The end of an era might finally be upon us—the end of the “s” in “Riot Games” meme. Why? Because Riot has filed a long list of trademarks, according to trademark database Justia, for something called “Legends of Runeterra.” The details of each trademark could be evidence to support the theory that this is a new game.
Normally, the trademarks and the name wouldn’t be enough to go on, as Riot owns trademarks for many things, including some champions and even K/DA, the new virtual K-Pop group the company created for Worlds. Here’s where it gets extremely interesting, though. Riot filed nine different trademarks for Legends of Runeterra, according to the site, and it doesn’t have that many filed for League of Legends itself.
Not only that, but the trademarks have been filed for a ton of different things, ranging from merch, to esports, to gaming computer software. League itself is also filed under gaming computer software. The trademarks even include a logo.
The name Legends of Runeterra implies that, whatever this is, it will be involved somehow in the world already created for League, as Runeterra is the world in which League’s champions and their homelands reside.
Could it simply be a big in-game event for League? Sure, it could be. It may not end up being the RPG that fans have been asking for, but whatever it is, this many applied trademarks indicates that it’s probably going to be big. And hopefully, it’ll be soon.
Dot Esports has reached out to Riot Games for further comment.