Project L, League of Legends Fighting Game Will Disrupt Fighting Game Community
Riot’s 2D League of Legends fighting video game Project L has shared some insights from their development process. They also announced that their entry into the fighter genre would be entirely free-to-play and that it would include Ruined King deuteragonist Illaoi.
This update is released before the Evolution Championship Series (EVO) this weekend. It heavily hints at the team’s plans to control many of the fighting games community. Although cracking the scene would seem like an impossible dream for many studios, Project’s free-to-play ease of use, their fighting-game industry veterans, team leaders, recognizable characters and funding from the ever-hungry Riot could make it possible.
The latest Project L development diary has Tom Cannon, Executive Producer, stating, “we want you to have the ability to play regardless of where you live, your skill level, or how much you spend on a gaming experience.” Before confirming, Project L will not be cost-free like its Riot Games counterparts.
People love free games. Everyone knows this, but WB’s latest free open beta peaked at 53,433 concurrent users. This was the highest number of fighting games on Steam in its first week. These are truly incredible numbers. Project is a fighter based upon beloved characters. Free-to-play is a great way to attract people who don’t want to spend money for fun. This demographic, as we’ve seen with MultiVersus, is very large.
Project also features the Executive Producer Tom Cannon and Tony Cannon, the Technical Lead. These two are the founders of EVO. They were previously co-directors of Rising Thunder, a simple mecha fighting game. It was cancelled shortly after Riot bought Radiant Entertainment in 2016. Radiant Entertainment, the primary Riot subsidiary working on Project, seems to be the same inclusive and accessible team that made Rising Thunder appealing.
Riot’s Project blog post reveals that the Illaoi development team digs into the art, design, animation and narrative of translating a League of Legends champion into a new fighting game character. It’s an engaging, candid read that stimulates my brain to think about all the possible fighters and combinations. I highly recommend it. One of my favourite quotes is: “Basically, we want players to see Project champions do something they have never seen before and to think, ‘Holy shit! They did that! They can do it …'”
Although Project has not yet been released, the Illaoi blog posted that there will be an update shortly. I am a perpetual League of Legends player and a fighting game player who loves competition. This game feels like it was made just for me, and I’m excited to be silly. If Zero is added, I will yell the loudest exclamation of joy to alarm my neighbours and shake down the windows in my entire street.
However, I am also conflicted and cannot help but comment on Riot’s infiltration of various genres. It is slowly but surely setting itself up as the leader in each one. It all adds up when we consider Teamfight Tactics’ dominance in the auto battler scene and the Valorant tactical shooter trying to catch up with CS: GO. League of Legends is outshining Dota 2 and their upcoming MMORPG, which draws talent from all games. A monopoly in an industry is bad news for everyone except the company. Let’s pray it doesn’t happen.
Riot’s Project blog post reveals that the Illaoi development team dives into the art, design, animation and narrative of translating a League of Legends champion into a new fighting game character. It’s an engaging, candid read that stimulates my brain to think about all the possible fighters and combinations. I highly recommend it. One of my favourite quotes is: “Basically, we want players to see Project champions do something they have never seen before and to think, ‘Holy shit! They did what? They can do it …'”
Although Project has not yet been released, the Illaoi blog posted that there will be an update shortly. I am a perpetual League of Legends player and a fighting game player who loves competition. This game feels like it was made just for me, and I’m excited to be silly. If Zero is added, I will yell the loudest exclamation of joy to alarm my neighbours and shake down the windows in my entire street.
However, I am also conflicted and cannot help but comment on OneRiot’s infiltration of various genres. It is slowly but surely setting itself up as the leader in each one. It all adds up when we consider TeamfightTactics” dominance in the auto-battle scene and the Valorant tactical shorter trying to catch up with CS: GO. League of Legends is outshining Dota 2 and their upcoming MMORPG, which draws talent from different games. A monopoly in an industry is bad news for everyone except the company.Let’s pray it doesn’t happen.
