Project L director Tom Cannon just announced that Riot Games’ 2D fighting game will be free-to-play.
The update came in an announcement ahead of Evo 2022 , the largest fighting game tournament in the world, which will take place next weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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“One of our goals is to remove as many barriers as possible between you and all the fun Project L has to offer,” Cannon said in his video update. “We want you to be able to play no matter where you are, no matter your skill level or how much money you have to spend on a game.”
This decision to release Project L for free comes as no surprise on Riot Games’ part. The company is best known for its free-to-play games like League of Legends and VALORANT. In these titles, players can spend real money to purchase cosmetics and unlock or level up characters faster. However, you don’t need to spend any money to log in or progress naturally in either game.
What we know about Project L
Project L will likely try to match or even surpass the success of the free-to-play platform fighter MultiVersus just released in beta (our review here). Peaking at over 153,000 concurrent players on Steam alone, MultiVersus is already the most played standalone fighting game of all time. With the support of an established development house like Riot Games, Project L could break that record when it launches.
As previously announced, Project L will be an “assisted” fighter, this means that players will control two characters and will be able to switch between them or control them together for combos. Additionally, the game will include a rollback netcode, which many players consider essential to a good fighting game.
Cannon did not share any updates on a potential release date for Project L, suggesting instead that a significant part of the development process is still ongoing. However, he has confirmed that League of Legends’ Illaoi will join Project L as a playable champion. Cannon also shared a blog post detailing Illaoi’s implementation process in the game.
