Everything we know about Project L: Confirmed roster, game mechanics, trailers & more

Project L is Riot Games’ upcoming fighting game set in the League of Legends universe. Here’s what we know so far, including the roster of confirmed champions, trailers, a possible release window, and more.

The League of Legends universe has been ever-expanding since Riot released a can of worms during the League 10 Anniversary celebrations in October 2019.

News about the upcoming title was scarce up until EVO 2023, the first time the game will be playable for the public. Riot has been slowly but surely releasing more information about the game over the course of its lengthy development, but it feels like they’re gearing up for some massive reveals in the near future.

Here’s what we know so far about Riot’s League of Legends-inspired fighting game.

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Contents

• Does Project L have a release date?
• League of Legends champion roster
• Trailers
• Gameplay

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Does Project L have a release date?

No, Project L does not currently have a release date. Players shouldn’t expect to get their hands on Project L until 2023 at the earliest.

Development appears to be on track for an initial launch at some stage in 2023-2024. A 2023 launch is seeming less and less likely as time goes on, but with a version of the game being playable at EVO 2023, it’s hard to say what Riot has up their sleeve.

What League of Legends champions will be in Project L?

On the character side, we know of 6 fighters so far.

Here’s a full list of League of Legends champions confirmed for Project L so far.

• Ahri
• Darius
• Ekko
• Illaoi
• Jinx
• Yasuo

While there’s sure to be a larger roster on launch, these 6 fighters already bring a ton of variety to the cast. From a heavy bruiser like Darius to a nimble, projectile-based champion like Ahri, the myriad League of Legends champions Project L devs have to pull from give them a lot of options.

That said, some characters are more obvious additions than others. The recently-announced Yasuo is one of the more obvious fighters to add, considering his popularity and how well his League of Legends abilities lend themselves to a fighting game setting.

Project L trailers & teasers

League 10 Anniversary announcement

Project L was briefly revealed during Riot’s League of Legends 10-year anniversary stream back in October 2019. Tom Cannon, the game’s director, spoke briefly about their ambitions, with a first look at prototyped gameplay.

Trailer begins at 33:37

RiotX Arcane Epilogue trailer

The next time we saw Project L was during the RiotX Arcane event in November 2021 – two years on. The game evolved a lot since it was first shown off, with Riot explaining some of the game’s mechanics.

EVO 2023 how to play trailer

The next trailer in line is one created to show those in attendance at EVO 2023 how to play the game at a base level before they hopped into the action in-person.

Project L game mechanics

Project L appears to be a 2.5D “assist-based” fighting game. The characters will be 3D models fighting on a horizontal 2D plane – close to Street Fighter 6.

It will have tag-team mechanics, where you pilot a squad of two different champions, swapping them in and out to land some nasty combos.

“This is the right foundation to build a game that rewards strategic team building and on-the-fly decision making, on top of strong fighting fundamentals,” the developers said in a November 2021 update.

Here’s a full breakdown of what we know so far.

Offense

Project L’s base mechanics when it comes to hitting the opponent are fairly bog-standard within the fighting game genre. It’s got a mix of highs, mids, and lows that allow players to string together combos and juggle their opponent.

Every character also has a special button devoted specifically to a unique mechanic in their kit, similar to something like Guilty Gear Strive. Every character also has access to a launcher (down forward heavy) and anti-air attacks (down heavy), along with other uniform offensive options.

Each champion also has two ultimate moves, one of which costs 1 bar on the ultimate meter, while the other costs 2. As is per usual in fighting games, the higher meter ultimate does a lot more damage.

Defense

Project L has a number of unique defensive options that allow you to control space and reward players for reading their opponent.

The Push Block and Retreating Guard allow players to expend meter for some interesting defensive options to either create or close space between them and their opponent. These are the “safe” defense moves, ones that aren’t easily punished and can be used in almost any situation. The biggest downside is they always use up one bar of your meter.

Parries are also something all characters have, costing 1 meter to do either a normal or low parry. The cost of a parry will be refunded if successful, but missing the window for parry timing will leave you vulnerable. It’s a high-risk, high-reward defense option.

Meanwhile, Dynamic Saves make use of your partner and allow you to swap them in if you’re caught in a nasty combo string. This works even if that partner is KO’d. Dynamic Saves can also be countered, leaving your partner vulnerable to getting carried into yet another combo.

Tag Mechanics

Project L allows two players to play on one team, with each person controlling one of the characters on the team (reminiscent of Street Fighter x Tekken’s Scramble Battle mode). And in this kind of multiplayer, the person who isn’t in the battle will have to stay on their toes.

Solo players can fully manipulate both champions, weaving together combos and swapping characters in and out with assists. However, people who play together on the same team will have to coordinate combos and create opportunities for their ally.

All of this is tied to the Team button. Assists can be charged up or just used normally, and each champion has two different assist options.

Teammates can be quickly called in to help carry a combo via Assists, or swapped in to create a combo of their own via a Handshake Tag. Additionally, those who are KO’d will get access to a Last Stand attack, something that allows them to turn the tide even if they’re out of the game.

Fuse System

The Fuse System allows players to pick one of, at the time of writing, four options that drastically change the way you play with your tag partner. Here are the four Fuse options:

• Fury: Below 40% health, deal bonus damage and gain a special dash cancel.
• Freestyle: Handshake Tag twice in one sequence.
• Double Down: Combine your ultimate with your partner.
• 2X Assist: Your partner can use two assist options back-to-back

These Fuse options have the potential to create a ton of additional combo options, particularly with Freestyle and 2X Assist.

Riot are also using their RiotDirect netcode that has helped reduce ping for Valorant and League of Legends, with some rollback elements.

We will update this piece with more Project L news as it comes to light.