Riot shows off a new character coming to its free League of Legends fighting game

The studio announced in an update on Monday that the League champion Illaoi will be one of the fighters in the game.

Riot hasn't provided an official release date or even a release window for the game, which was announced under the code name "Project L." In Monday's update, Riot shared a detailed explanation of how the team thinks about adapting a League character into a Project L character.

Image: Riot Games

The news that Project L will be free to play is notable, but not too surprising; Riot's smash hits League of legends and Valorant have each been free to play from the beginning. The early popularity of WB's free-to-play fighter MultiVersus shows that there is an appetite for big-budget fighting games that are free, and if Riot can bring over League and fighting game fans to Project L, the studio could have.

Project L will give another update before the end of the year, according to Riot. There was an early look at the game in November. Riot has a number of expansions of the League of Legends universe, including Project L, as well as the hit show Arcane and a League of Legends game.