Riot’s combat game Project L will be available for free, with’respectful’ commercialization

Illaoi, Project L's next champion, was also announced

Riot Games’ upcoming 2D fighting game set in the League of Legends universe, Project L, will be free to play, according to senior director and executive producer Tom Cannon in a development update Monday. Cannon stated that the revelation is unlikely to surprise gamers of League of Legends, Valorant, and other free-to-play Riot titles, and that the Project L team is cautious about how and when it will ask for money.

“When it comes to monetization,” Cannon stated, “we guarantee to be considerate of both your time and your pocketbook.”

Cannon also revealed Illaoi, the Kraken Priestess, as the next League champion to join Project L. Illaoi, who was added to Riot’s MOBA in 2015, is likely to be well-known to League of Legends gamers. Illaoi, on the other hand, will be a “Big Body Juggernaut” in Project L, with a “big hurtbox, massive impacts, and slower movement, with a simple-to-learn, hard-to-master kit,” according to game designer Caroline Montano in a Project L development blog.

“Illaoi is a big and muscular lady who hits with a large totem, so it seems reasonable she’d hit with her own physical might rather than hiding behind the force of her god or magical skills,” Montano said of Illaoi’s gameplay design. “We also required tentacles.” Nagakabouros, Illaoi’s deity, is a tentacled sea monster, thus she needed to include part of that in her kit. But, in addition to enhancing her assaults, Nagakabouros provides Illaoi the ability to steal her opponent’s soul.”

If you’re curious in Riot’s strategy to bringing Illaoi to Project L, check out the team’s blog. Illaoi will join five other League champions already announced for Project L: Ahri, Darius, Ekko, Jinx, and Katarina.

In 2019, Project L was initially unveiled. Former employees of Radiant Entertainment, the company behind the shelved free-to-play fighting game Rising Thunder, are working on the fighting game. Riot purchased Radiant in 2016.