After two years at the helm of League of Legends, executive producer Jeremy "Brightmoon" Lee announced today that he's decided to step down.
"This year's been a bit of a whirlwind," Lee said in today's dev update video. "The progress we've made as a team and, most importantly, what we've been able to deliver for you has been so rewarding. And with that, I've decided it's the right time to step away from my current role. I'll be passing the torch to a new executive producer in the coming months."
The executive producer role is a bit amorphous but very important in the big picture: Lee's LinkedIn profile says he's charged with "ensuring the vision and strategy of League of Legends," and "responsible for the multiple teams on League having a north star, clear commitments, and what they need to meet them."
- After working on Ultima Online for 26 years, producer Bonnie Armstrong is stepping down to 'work in my greenhouse, play with puppies, and snuggle with my hubby'
- Johan Pilestedt is taking a sabbatical from Helldivers 2 after working 'around the clock' for 11 years, will move on to 'the next Arrowhead game' when he returns
Interestingly, Riot doesn't have a new executive producer for League of Legends selected just yet: Lee said the studio is still searching for someone to fill the role, and that he's "really optimistic that we'll get an amazing leader and introduce you to them very soon." And while Lee is stepping back from League of Legends, he's said he's not actually leaving Riot.
"Working on League for the past eight years has been a dream come true, and it's been an honor to serve you and this incredible dev team. So while this is bittersweet, it's definitely not goodbye. I'll be doing some other stuff at Riot and I look forward to reconnecting when the time is right."
Riot's global head of player community Erin "Aureylian" Wayne paid tribute to Lee in a response to his farewell message on Twitter. "You have been such a bright spot in my time here at Riot and while I'm sad to see you move on from League, I can't wait to tackle new opportunities with you," she wrote. "Thank you for everything you've done for players!"
After years of focusing exclusively on League of Legends, Riot has in more recent years been branching out with spinoff "League of Legends Story" games like Ruined King and Mageseeker. Naturally, there's no hint as to what Lee will be moving to at this point, but one possibility is the mysterious Project L, the League of Legends fighting game that was announced in 2019. It still doesn't have a hint of a release date but, entirely speculatively, if Lee is moving over to that game, it could be a sign that those wheels are starting to turn in earnest.
For now, it doesn't sound like Lee is leaving immediately: In his farewell message he said, "You'll still see me in Season Start and possibly in some other things earlier in the year while we search for our next EP to lead the game."
Correction: The headline originally indicated that Lee had been "in charge" of League of Legends for eight years. He's actually been at Riot for that long but was preceded in the role by Joe Tung, who was executive producer from 2015-18, and Jessica Nam, who held the position from 2019-20. Lee assumed the executive producer role when Nam was promoted to vice-president of studio; both Tung and Nam have since departed Riot to join Theorycraft Games.
