by Riot Games has announced the appointment of a new Global Head of Esports for TeamFight Tactics (TFT), Legends of Runeterra (LoR), and Project L. The game publisher promoted Michael Sherman, who was the Senior Manager, Publishing for NA regional publishing operations, to the position of the Global Head of Esports.
The new Global Head of Esports, Sherman started his career with Riot Games in 2014. He was part of the League of Legends’ Collegiate program after which he climbed the career ladder to the position of Program Lead. In 2020, he became the marketing and communications head of the League of Legends Championship Series.
Sherman had taken to his LinkedIn account to share his excitement about the new role. He highlighted his passion for building esports alongside the community. He emphasized that this passion will be at the core of his activities in his new role.
“I’m super excited to announce that I’ve started a new role as the Global Head of Esports for TFT LoR, and Project L,” Sherman wrote. “I’m extremely passionate about building esports alongside the community, and that will remain one of my top priorities moving into this new role.”
Riot had recently shared its direction for TFT esports, which it plans to run through October 2022 in North America and EMEA. The organization’s plans include the expansion of the title’s scope, which includes the creation of more tournaments, teams, and more appealing prize pools.
Sherman had stated that his primary focus at the moment will be centered on TFT esports. While he debunked any thoughts of Project L being released soon, he revealed that when the upcoming fighting game does get closer to release, he will begin to ramp up operations on that end.
The role is segmented into three parts, such as auto-battlers, collectible card games, and fighting games. The new role will see Sherman handle the development of unique strategies to aid in the creation of content dedicated to each audience.
He will also be burdened with the responsibility of developing a unique identity for each title at its pivotal stage of creation. Sherman’s appointment was born of the need that Riot Games’ current esports programming caters to MOBA and tactical FPS fans.
“We don’t think that what we’ve done for games like League of Legends and VALORANT will apply here,” Sherman said.
While Project L still remains a mystery as regards the details surrounding the esports title. It is, however, clear that the game will not be released anytime before 2023, but could be released in 2023 at the earliest.
The Fighting Game Community has been keen on getting more details on Riot’s timetable for the title. They have also been interested in finding out if the organization will be looking to organize its own events or ride on existing FGC tournament organizers.
