Justin Richmond, the game director for the unnamed PlayStation 4 Uncharted game has left Naughty Dog for Riot Games according to IGN.

“I have in fact made the decision to leave Naughty Dog…after careful consideration and exploration I have joined Riot Games. There is some really innovative stuff going on here that I can’t wait to be a part of” Richmond said in a comment to IGN.

Riot Games is known for its Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game League of Legends, which is the biggest e-sports game in the world. It sold out the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and boasts stats of “12 million daily active players and 32 million monthly active players” according to The Penny Arcade Report.

Richmond was the game director Uncharted 3 and had worked at Naughty Dog since 2008.

My Opinion

It’s always surprising to see someone leave a prestigious studio, be it Valve, Bungie, or Naughty Dog. Yet, I can see the appeal in most cases, and that includes this one. Riot Games is doing something impressive: beating StarCraft in e-sport numbers. I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, but League of Legends is a large game with an even larger fan base, and it could be the thing that makes e-sports a word people say without scorn.

That would be changing the way people as a whole look at video games. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that?