Riot Games’ upcoming fighting game Project L is slowly building its roster of champion fighters, and the development updates coming from the team and project lead Tom Cannon have gotten fans of both League and fighting games very excited.
The Project L team at Riot appears to be focused on removing as many entry barriers as they can, and that includes releasing the game as a free-to-play title when it eventually comes out, like Riot has done with its other prominent titles like League and VALORANT.
But what does that mean for the in-game purchases and microtransactions that are sure to be included? Will players have the ability to purchase items or buffs that will help them win?
Is Project L pay-to-win?
While it’s not officially set in stone yet, the feeling coming from the Project L team’s public statements is that Project L will likely not be pay-to-win. In a late July 2022 update, Cannon spoke candidly about the approach to microtransactions in Project L:
“One of our goals is to remove as many barriers as possible from you enjoying Project L,” Cannon said via Twitter. “We want you to be able to play no matter where you live, what your skill level is, or how much money you have to spend on a game.” Cannon also said that they want to be “respectful” when it comes to in-game monetization.
This fits the mold of what Riot has done with their other popular free-to-play titles like League and VALORANT. Yes, you can expand your roster of champions and agents in each game quicker by purchasing them with real money, but there’s no items to purchase that will improve a character’s power or give you a competitive advantage in a game.
Likely, Project L will follow the same mold as recently released fighting game MultiVersus; a free-to-play title with a portion of the character roster already unlocked, with the ability to unlock more characters by playing, but with the option to purchase more characters with real money.
