Just don’t expect it to arrive too soon
Over the weekend we got another glimpse ofProject L, Riot Games’ forthcomingLeague of Legendsfighting game. And while its launch is still a ways off, progress seems pretty good so far.
Tom and Tony Cannon joined a Riot Games stream to showcase some of what theProject Lteam has been working on so far. They confirmed it is a 2-on-2, assist-based fighting game. If you need a reference point, thinkBlazBlue: Cross Tag BattleorMarvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. Players pick a pair of champions and duke it out in the ring.
Right off the bat, you’ll probably notice someArcaneinfluence. The footage they showed Ekko and Jinx, in an arena set against a bridge that plays heavily in the show.
Ekko makes use of time mechanics, using after-images to route out some interesting combos and follow-ups in sync with his time grenades. I’m glad they chose Ekko as a character, both because his design is fantastic and his time-based kit seems like a great fit for an assist fighter like this.
Both in the video andon the Riot Games blog, the Cannons dive a bit deeper into their plans forProject L. Netcode is a big priority, as the team confirms it’s starting with rollback netcode as a foundation and adding in additional tech like RiotDirect, which the company uses for minimizing ping inLeague of LegendsandValorant.
But the team also set some expectations in terms ofProject Land its eventual launch. Though the team has made progress, what it’s shown was a vertical slice, and the game will not be shipping in 2021 or 2022. They do plan on publishing some more updates moving forward though, with at least two updates planned for next year and the first one arriving sometime early in the second half of 2022.
Riot Games has been on a tear publishing games, withseveral of its Riot Forge games going live last week. On the first-party end,Valorantis still its most recent release. But withProject Landothers potentially in the pipeline, it seems like there’s a lot ofLeaguestill to come.
