Project L Goes Free to Play
Today in fighting game news on the week of EVO 2022, Riot Games releases a new dev diary making the announcement many wanted to hear. The new fighting game based on League of Legends called “Project L” is going Free to Play.
Project L Announcement:
“When it comes to monetization, we promise to be respectful of both your time and your wallet,” Cannon said.” said by Tom Cannon senior director and executive producer.
Some gamers are a bit weary when it comes to games that are free to play and Riot Games is familiar with the game model. League of Legends is their biggest F2P MOBA that you mostly pay for characters and vanities, but they can be pricey. So, how respectful are we talking here when it comes to monetization? Most recently Valorant which is their first FPS title that can also make your wallets scream has grown in popularity for a while now.
Many top creators like Maximilian Dood have voiced their opinion about the free-to-play market style. Yes, you will gain more players this way for sure, and with previous fighting games like DOA 5 that had their core fighters version, it was worth it in the end. You can buy the characters you want and costumes. Even Multiversus which is in beta right now is doing the same model.
The biggest news from this is that “Big Body Juggernaut” Illaoi will be making her debut in Project L as well.
When it comes to what archetype I’d use to describe Illaoi, it would probably be a “Big Body Juggernaut.” An overwhelming battering ram who has the power of a god behind her. Illaoi’s a heavy-hitter who dominates when it’s her turn in the mid-range and destroys her enemies with immense pressure.
Illaoi sounds like a beefy superstar that will give fighters a run for their money. But in the Dev Blog, they give us an idea of some of what Illaoi will bring.
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Illaoi fights alongside her god. Nagakabouros is a constantly looming threat that Illaoi feels supported by and opponents fear.
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Slow, but always in motion. Illaoi is always moving, and she punishes those who are motionless. This is one of the key beliefs of her god, and we wanted to represent this through her gameplay.
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Overwhelming pressure. Once Illaoi puts the opponent in a position where they get hit or need to block, she is relentless, forcing her opponent to make a move on her terms.
Being that this is an assist-based fighter having two champs per team. This is going to give many fans of the genre excitement in creating combos and giving themselves a great experience.
Personal take:
At the end of the day, it is still a business and the business wants to make money. My own personal take is that companies used to release more demos or we had ways of checking out fighting games in arcades which hyped up the purchase when it made it to home consoles. Things evolve and even though we are far away from the classic styles of buying a game and earning characters with costumes while playing.
From the last developer trailer, it looks like a fun fighter and so far the characters have a strong fan base, especially after the premiere of Arcane. We shall wait and see how this develops. Stay tuned for more news. – Beast Out –
