Riot Games Reintroduces Project L for Riot X Arcane

Riot Games reintroduced Project L and opened up about the progress and anticipation that is expected of this new production. Tom Cannon, who is the Senior Director and Executive Producer of this new League of Legends fighting game released a statement on Nov. 20. Even though the post reassures the fanbase about this plan, Cannon states that it won’t come out in 2021 or 2022.

Riot Games Reintroduces Project L

Project L was first mentioned in the Undercity Nights event, a two-day broadcast with live competition and more. There was a preview of what the goal of the game could look like, but Cannon emphasized that they want this game to gain a lot of recognition, particularly in the fighting-game community (FGC), and is nowhere near ready to release.

The game is labeled as an assist-based fighter game, with the functionality of creating your team of champions and “tagging” them into combat. And hopefully fans will be excited to know that the game takes place in the world of Runeterra. When discussing the controls, Cannon states they are based in a, “easy-to-learn but hard-to-master mentality”. 

Of course, fans of both fighter games and Riot games have their concerns when it comes to how this game will apply to FGC, since that is Riot’s goal with Project L. Many took to reddit to express their concerns, when user BlueAvenueAcornLane provided some interesting insight into the matter. Emphasizing that Riot’s free-to-play model might threaten the livelihood of other FGC developers, as many do require a price tag. If Project L is as good as Riot hopes it to be, then it could not only change the landscape of video games, but the competition for the FGC.

But those impacts won’t come for a long time, as Cannon emphasizes that Project L is still in the research and development phase. This slow pace will remain consistent in order to fulfill their goal, “to build a super high-quality fighting game that the FGC can invest deeply in, playing for years or even decades.”