Riot’s long-suffering League of Legends MMO is alive and well. Brian Holinka—the former Lead Combat Designer for World of Warcraft, who spent over a decade at Blizzard—has joined the project team. It is a significant reinforcement.
In his LinkedIn profile, the developer happily announced his first official day on the job. He now holds the position of Lead Game Designer for the project. This news is sure to be a morale booster for fans, whom the creators have long kept on a strict information diet.
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How Did Fantastic Pixel Castle Collapse?
Interestingly, Brian Holinka actually left Blizzard back in 2023. At the time, the promising talent was quickly snapped up by Fantastic Pixel Castle. This brand-new studio was founded by Greg Street, a former Vice President at Riot (who, incidentally, was the one originally at the helm of the League of Legends MMO’s development). That team also planned to roll out a massive multiplayer hit. The fairytale came to an abrupt end in 2025, however, when the Chinese publisher NetEase suddenly cut off funding. The studio went under.
Riot Methodically Scoops Up World of Warcraft Talent
The information vacuum surrounding the upcoming game had many worried. Since the high-profile announcement in December 2020, we haven’t really seen any concrete details—though Greg Street himself did manage to leave the company in the interim. Yet, work is clearly in full swing behind the scenes, as Riot continues to systematically poach top-tier specialists from the market.
Holinka’s hiring comes just five months after the studio poached Raymond Bartos—formerly a Lead Producer on World of Warcraft. A clear trend is emerging. Even earlier—in October 2024—Orlando Salvatore joined the team (prior to this, he served as a Lead Software Engineer on WoW). The roster shaping up looks incredibly formidable. As for Street himself, he has already found a new position within the gaming industry. The details are currently being kept strictly under wraps. On his LinkedIn page, the game designer offered only a cryptic hint: “It’s not an MMO—at least, not yet.” We await further announcements.
