It feels like the League of Legends MMO has been canceled a second time. Greg Street – the Blizzard and Riot veteran known as “Ghostcrawler” – has revealed that his new indie project, developed under his own studio Fantastic Pixel Castle, has lost its publisher. The future of the game, meant to be a spiritual successor to the canceled LoL MMO, now hangs by a thread.

One of the most promising upcoming MMOs is dangerously close to collapse. Greg Street, famous among the League of Legends and World of Warcraft communities as “Ghostcrawler,” has confirmed the grim news. The former Blizzard designer and creative lead of the canceled LoL MMO stated on social media that his new project has taken a massive hit. “If we don’t find a new publisher soon, the reality is that the studio will probably shut down,” he admitted.

Trouble for a Promising MMO Dream

Street announced the situation through his social channels, where he has regularly shared development updates. “Fantastic Pixel Castle is no longer a first-party studio under NetEase Games. The company has been very supportive in helping us find a new publishing partner, but deals are rare in today’s market — especially for something as large-scale as an MMORPG,” explained the developer, who served as lead gameplay director during League of Legends’ peak years at Riot Games.

Street left Riot in 2022 after what he described as “devastating personal losses.” He wanted to spend more time with his family and eventually founded his own fully remote studio, Fantastic Pixel Castle, where he began developing an MMO codenamed “Ghost.” Ironically, a few months after his departure, Riot decided to reboot the League of Legends MMO, and fans assumed Street’s project would carry forward many of the same ideas.

“We want to thank the Ghost community, our playtesters, and everyone who’s helped us during these incredibly tough times for the industry. I hope you’ll all get a chance to play Ghost someday. I also want to thank the Fantastic Pixel Castle team for creating a game we can all be proud of (…) Despite the challenges, these past two years have been the most fulfilling of my career,” Street wrote in his statement.

The update serves both as a heartfelt message to fans and a plea for help. While some in the community are already suggesting crowdfunding and tagging potential publishers, the situation looks bleak. Still, if there’s one thing the MMO genre has taught us, it’s that ghosts never stay buried forever — and Ghost might yet rise again.

Source: 3djuegos