Riot Games is set to kick down the door of the fighting game genre with Project L, a new spin-off of League of Legends.
At this point, League of Legends isn’t just a game. It’s a cross-media IP with a hit animated series in Arcane, a line of toys, a robust esports scene, and a record label. And of course, it’s also an entire franchise of video games.
The company has dabbled in several genres ranging from a digital card game in Legends of Runeterra to the turn-based RPG Ruined King: A League of Legends Story. There’s more on the horizon too with Riot Games brewing up a League of Legends fighting game that could make a big splash in a genre that’s currently surging.
Is Riot Games making a League of Legends fighting game?
Riot Games is confirmed to be developing a new fighting game codenamed Project L. The fighting game has been in the works for several years at this point. It was officially confirmed by one of its lead developers at Evo 2019.
News has only come in at a trickle in the years since then. There have only been a handful of videos released and a few details confirmed about the game.
Who is making Project L?
Project L is being developed by Riot Games with Tony Cannon and Tom Cannon serving as two of the leads on the project. The Cannon brothers are fixtures of the fighting game scene as co-founders of the Evo Championship Series and creators of GGPO, which helped popularize rollback netcode in the fighting game genre. They joined Riot Games in 2016 when their studio was acquired by the company.
It’s unclear when they began work on the title. Project L was first confirmed in 2019 at Evo with the official reveal coming a few months later during the 10th anniversary celebration of League of Legends.
What kind of fighting game is Project L?
Project L is a fast-paced fighting game in the vein of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, offering a high degree of mobility alongside tag and assist mechanics. This wasn’t always the plan, though.
The original footage of the game showed slower gameplay with heavy attacks and movement. In 2022, a developer diary revealed new gameplay footage of Project L and discussed how the game was originally meant to be a one-on-one fighter.
“We were originally developing Project L to be a 1v1 game where two champions enter and one emerges victorious. But around two years ago, we made the pivot to a tag-team, assist-based fighter,” game director Shaun Rivera said.
Project L confirmed champions as playable characters
A handful of League of Legends champions have been confirmed as playable characters in Project L. Minimal gameplay footage of Project L exists and only five characters have been shown off in official materials of its current build. The full list includes:
- Ahri
- Jinx
- Ekko
- Darius
- Illaoi
- Yasuo
Alongside these six, Katarina was shown as a playable character in the original footage of Project L. She has been conspicuously absent since and it’s unclear if she is still set to appear in the game.
Ahri, Jinx, Ekko, and Darius were the four characters featured in much of the gameplay footage released in 2022 and 2023, but Riot Games gave fans in attendance at Evo 2023 a special treat with the reveal of Yasuo who was also available in a demo version of the game available to play at the event.
What is Project L’s release date?
Project L does not have an officially confirmed release date.
Given how long the game has been in development and how little has been shown of it over the years, it’s difficult to gauge how far along it might be. Unfortunately, fans will have to simply wait for an official announcement on the matter.
