Riot is the latest developer to release its own game launcher

Are you tired of game developers releasing launchers that feel redundant? Too bad, you’re getting another one. Riot Games has revealed plans to roll out a launcher for its games, Riot Client. It’s not strictly new (games have been quietly using a limited version of the launcher for a while), but you now have access to all of Riot’s desktop titles with a single sign-in. You can hop from Valorant to League of Legends with little trouble, for instance.

The client will first be available on September 20th. All gamers should receive the new software on October 4th, assuming Riot is confident in the client’s stability. You’ll still see dedicated pages for each game, including news and events.

Riot stressed that your existing shortcuts to individual games will still work, and that this won’t chew up significantly more drive space. It’s not quite the classic case of inserting another layer between you and the games you want to play. At the same time, there’s little doubt this helps Riot control the experience. A client like this will make it that much easier for Riot to keep you within its game universe — why jump to Counter-Strike when Valorant is that much easier to reach?