MMO Pokemon competitor dev in shambles as it realizes its new roguelike spinoff shares both name and genre with the new League of Legends game

The developer of MMO Pokemon competitor Temtem is ever-so-slightly quaking in its boots after realizing that its upcoming spin-off shares both a genre and name with an industry juggernaut.

In a tweet earlier this week, Temtem developer Crema posted a video about its upcoming spin-off, Temtem: Swarm. A Vampire Survivors-style roguelike, Swarm pits Tems against hordes of enemies, tasking you with lasting as long as you can amid its top-down, ‘bullet-heaven’ gameplay. 

Unfortunately for Crema, that real estate is a little crowded right now. “Put a finger down if one of the biggest companies in the industry with millions of players all over the world just announced that their survivor-like game mode is named exactly like your new, upcoming survivor game,” the video below jokes. 

That company is League of Legends developer Riot Games, which recently unveiled Swarm, a top-down, ‘bullet-heaven’, Vampire Survivors-style roguelike that pits members of LoL’s heroic Anima Squad against hordes of enemies. League of Legends: Swarm was teased several months ago, but has only just been officially named ahead of its release next month.

Adding to Crema’s woes is the fact that that launch takes League of Legends: Swarm into 2024’s third quarter, which is the same release window that Temtem: Swarm currently sits in. Temtem’s spin-off could release as late as September and still hit that window, of course, and perhaps it will quietly slip back a bit to allow League of Legends fans to get their fix first.

It’s worth pointing out two things here, of course; firstly, this is definitely delivered in jest, and secondly, the crossover between Temtem’s creature collecting and League of Legends’ MOBA audiences seems like it could be pretty slim. The timing is undeniably unfortunate, but Crema seems to be taking this coincidence pretty well.

If you’re looking for even more permadeath action, check out our list of the best roguelike games.