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Rising Thunder developer acquired by Riot Games; alpha will shut down next week

League of Legends developer Riot Games has acquired Radiant Entertainment and that may not bode well for Rising Thunder, which will see its alpha get shut down next week.

Ozzie Mejia

March 8, 2016 12:14 PM

Radiant Entertainment, the indie developer currently working on PC-exclusive fighting game Rising Thunder, has announced this afternoon that it has been acquired by the folks at Riot Games. And it looks like that means a potentially cataclysmic change for the fighting game, with Radiant ominously announcing that the Rising Thunder alpha is set to close down on March 18.

"As for Rising Thunder, the team will start work on a new game that we're incredibly excited about," states the message from Radiant founders Tom and Tony Cannon currently on the Radiant homepage. "We wish we could say more now, but rest assured you'll hear more when the time is right. For now, we will be closing the Rising Thunder Alpha on March 18th. Thanks to everyone who participated in the test!"

There's no further indication on what this means for Rising Thunder or its development team that includes former Capcom Senior Manager Seth Killian. At the very least, the Cannons and Killian look to be safe, if Riot's recent tweet is any indication.

We're THRILLED to welcome @pond3r, @protomcannon, @sethkillian and the amazing Radiant Entertainment team to Riot: https://t.co/jM3iNlD8Kf
— Riot Games (@riotgames) March 8, 2016

Shacknews will continue to monitor this situation and offer an update when it becomes available.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

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Shacknews

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March 8, 2016 12:14 PM

Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, Rising Thunder developer acquired by Riot Games; alpha will shut down next week
- melkore
  
   reply
  March 8, 2016 12:33 PM
  
  That's a shame if it is cancelled. It was a really cool fighting game that had potential to be amazing.
  
  Now we might get LoL characters in a fighting game?
- DrFlammable
  
   reply
  March 8, 2016 12:55 PM
  
  the wording in the email they sent me made it seem like Rising Thunder is just flat out cancelled now. that sucks but makes sense. seemed like they made a really strong foundation for a niche market.
  - Stimpak Chopra
    
     reply
    March 8, 2016 7:05 PM
    
    Shame, this was the first fighting game that many people (myself included) have shown any interest in.
- threeup
  
   reply
  March 8, 2016 1:12 PM
  
  They are also the Stonehearth guys it seems
- r_picmip 5
  
   reply
  March 8, 2016 5:35 PM
  
  So disappointing! I was loving Rising Thunder and was looking forward to the full release. I actually decided to skip SF 5 because learning joystick motions seemed so unappealing.
  
  I hope this idea is picked up by someone else or they come out with a new version featuring League characters or something. This game deserves to be made.