"It's the Grail": Marc Merrill gives a rare update on the Riot MMO at PAX West

News on the Riot MMO is rare enough to be an event in itself. Speaking at PAX West 2026 — the major gaming convention held every early September in Seattle — Riot Games co-founder and Chief Product Officer Marc Merrill offered a glimpse at the state of one of the most anticipated games of the decade, in comments relayed by Riot on its own social channels.

"We know what the players' hopes and dreams are," Merrill said. "It's on us as a team if we can succeed in an execution."

The most striking part was the project's internal nickname.

We call it the Grail internally. Many brave knights are gonna die on this quest, but f*ck it, it's the Grail, let's go.

Before adding: "I think we're doing a reasonable job and the future is gonna be bright."

Concrete information remains scarce beyond that. The MMO, set in the Runeterra universe, was announced at the end of 2020, before Riot confirmed in 2024 that development had been rebooted under a new creative direction — warning at the time that the game would stay silent for years. The only timeline ever put forward comes from Merrill himself, who has indicated the game is expected before 2030. No gameplay, date or title has ever been shown, and his remarks suggest that the quest, however bright, is still a long one.