Riot Buys Radiant: 'Rising Thunder' Falls, 'Stonehearth' Solid

California-based game developer Radiant, creators of a popular upcoming block-based building game called Stonehearth, has been acquired by Riot Games. As a direct result of the acquisition, Radiant announced the death of one of its other alpha projects, Rising Thunder.

The acquisition comes as a surprise considering that Riot Games (best known for its popular PC game, League of Legends) has not been in the practice of buying game developer studios in its 10-year history. For as large of a company as Riot is, most of its success is due to its flagship MOBA, and it didn’t build its foundation by acquiring smaller companies and launching hundreds of hit-or-miss games like other studios of its kind.

Radiant’s entry into the big leagues comes at a price; its well-received alpha fighting game, Rising Thunder, is officially closing on March 18. However, in the same breath, the company hinted at a new game in the works, so it’s possible we may see some kind of conceptual incarnation of Rising Thunder again one day. It could also just be a new project slated for the company’s development team once they arrive at Riot, but for now, the details of the game are unknown.

Although Rising Thunder has fallen, Radiant assured its fans that its popular alpha-stage game Stonehearth would continue development “full speed ahead” and thanked its fans for their support.

Derek Forrest is an Associate Contributing Writer for Tom’s Hardware and Tom’s IT Pro. Follow Derek Forrest on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.