Project L – Riot Games shows new game in the LoL universe

After a MOBA and a shooter, Riot Games wants to conquer the next genre. The developer has presented the upcoming fighting game with the working title „Project L“ for the first time. Can it already convince now?

For years, Riot Games has dominated the gaming and eSports scene with League of Legends, one of the most successful games in the world. After the success in moba, the developer followed suit and also established itself in the shooter genre with Valorant.

Now the team wants to enter another category and make a splash there. The game, with the working title „Project L“, is a fighting game in the LoL universe and is intended to compete with sport's landlords like Street Fighter and Tekken. Can it already convince in an early state?

First look at the new fighting game
Project L is a so-called „tag team fighting game“. This means that two players with two selected heroes each will compete against each other. This system is reminiscent of Marvel vs. Capcom or Dragon Ball FighterZ.

The game was presented by Tom Cannon, director and producer of Project L. He emphasizes the lofty ambitions: „Our goal is to develop a very high-quality fighting game that the community will have fun with for years and maybe even decades.“

Project L, however, already shows a lot of potential. The comic-like graphics are snazzy, and the characters familiar from League of Legends look well realized. The battles, however, still seemed a bit choppy and slow in places. The presented video material seemed a bit jerky. Riot still has enough time to refine the gameplay. The game is supposed to remain in development for a long time.

Release probably not until 2023

The focus of the presentation was directed at the early state of the game, as it is not scheduled for release until 2023. According to Cannon, they need the time to include „a full champion pool, environments, menus“ and more.

Furthermore, a lot of emphasis is being placed on the network environment on Riot's part. As in their other competitive games, perfect netcode is essential in this genre to prevent lags.

The publisher has proven with League of Legends and Valorant that they can operate successfully in different types of games. Should they manage to do the same here, Project L could attack at the very top of the fighting game genre.