Former Riot Games executives have launched a new studio called Believer to create a next-generation open world game based on an original IP.
The Believer Company’s leadership team includes former Riot Games vice president Michael Chow as CEO and former executive producer of League of Legends and Riot co-founder Steven Snow as chief product officer.
Believer has secured $55 million in funding to build its development team and first project, which it promised to be a “next-generation open-world game, anchored by an original IP, [with] stories where player choices matter, and gameplay systems that bring players together rather than pushing them apart.”
The company’s motto, Credo In Lugos, means “I believe in games”, which Believer said shows its dedication to video game development as a lifelong passion and not just a business venture. It appears dedicated to bringing its new IP to life beyond games as well, however, as strategic partner Michael D. Eisner said Believer understands that “truly great content franchises are not built with a single media type.
“They need to resonate with their audience across games, film, television, collectibles, and real-world interactive experiences,” he said, adding that their vision will be “[brought] to life across every platform”.
Believer also promised to have a player-first approach to making games. “Players are the best audience to serve in the world,” said Chow. “They’re noble, smart, discerning, and infinitely inventive. We hold their investments of time, skill, and hard-earned money as sacred, and we will always put their needs first at every stage of Believer’s journey.”
He continued: “I couldn’t be more excited to begin this journey with Steven. He’s a loving, stalwart champion of players — at times viciously protective of their best interests. There’s no better flag-bearer for what we’re setting out to do.”
The pair are joined by CTO Landon McDowell (previously of Microsoft and Riot Games), CCO Jeremy Vanhoozer (of Bungie and EA), COO Tim Hsu (of Twitter and Riot Games), CMO Shankar Gupta-Harrison (of Riot Games), director of operations Grace Park (of League of Legends: Wild Rift), and VP of design Jeff Jew (of League of Legends and Legends of Runeterra).
Given the studio is only being announced now, and the development team is still being put together, it will likely be years before Believer launches its game, though teases of what’s to come may arrive sooner.
Riot Games is most famous for creating League of Legends, which has become a multi-media spanning franchise itself thanks to the likes of Netflix’s Arcane series, and more recently launched Valorant. Whether Believer takes inspiration from these roots or not remains to be seen.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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