Despite the League of Legends universe churning out new champions regularly, having its own epic TV series with Arcane, and expanding into more and more new mediums constantly, Riot Games is only now looking to hire someone to oversee LoL’s entire creative vision – and apparently that’s largely thanks to the success of the Valorant team.
Earlier this week, Andrei ‘RiotMeddler’ van Roon – the head of the LoL studio that is responsible for not only the popular MOBA but Wild Rift, Teamfight Tactics, and Legends of Runeterra as well – publicised a job ad, showing that Riot is looking to hire a “game creative director” for League of Legends. This role is “focused on aesthetics, storytelling [and] worldbuilding within the broader Runeterra IP and brand/style”, according to RiotMeddler.
Taking to Reddit on September 14, RiotMeddler explains that one of the main reasons why the role is being created is due to the success of Riot’s competitive FPS game.
“VAL [Valorant] has had a CD [creative director] for a while and that’s worked really well for them – one of the reasons we’ve decided to add one to LoL as well!” RiotMeddler says in response to one fan who asks whether Riot could “clone” the current creative director on the tactical shooter (that being David Nottingham).
While Riot does say in its job description that it would be preferable for candidates to be knowledgeable about the League of Legends universe already, we wouldn’t suggest rushing to update your CVs if we were you. Due to the responsibility of the role, Riot is asking for candidates with more than 15 years of relevant experience and at least ten years of experience working in game development.
Riot has proven how to make a super tight product with its hires on the Valorant team. From its agent designs, to some of the best Valorant skins, to seasonal trailers, and to its Champions Tour esports product, the shooter is one of the sleekest and most recognisable out there.
While it has always done a pretty decent job at tying up and unifying most of its Runeterra-based creations together, the addition of an experienced creative director could see some more innovative choices in the future and maybe expansion into even more game genres and mediums.