New Project L dev diary showcases Duo Play – a cooperative tag mode

Riot Games has just announced that Project L is getting duo play – which allows for two individual players to take control of a separate character on a team. This means that four players will be able to play at once when the game eventually releases.

This comes via a new dev diary on the official Riot Games Youtube channel, in which executive producer Tom Cannon reveals the feature and the basics of how it works. In short, players can pick their individual characters and positions on the team, then tag each other in mid-fight. For those who want to play solo, that of course will remain an option.

Game director Shaun “unconkable” Rivera and core rules designer Daniel “Clockwork” Maniago, both well known former fighting game players in their own right, break down the mechanic further. Described as similar to tag-team wrestling, they showcase several combos and options available to duos. They also reveal the fuse system, a selection of modifiers that allow you to slightly change how two characters on a team play together.

In terms of comparisons, the only game I can think of with a similar feature is Street Fighter x Tekken. By no means a perfect game, but one that allowed for fighting game fans to tempt their friends into matches with them. The video concludes with the announcement that a demo will be available to play at Evo 2023 in Vegas in a week’s time, as well as a tease that more announcements will be coming soon.

There’s more showcased in the dev diary however. Project L has a fresh new UI that you can see in the gameplay showcase, as well as individual super bars for each character. We also see character intros for Ahri and Ekko, plus the character select screen. We also see a selection of alternative colours – dubbed chromas – that are available in the character select screen. All of which weren’t showcased prior to this dev diary.

In addition to all this, there’s been a huge wave of influencer impressions released. Popular fighting game players and content creators were able to try out the game, including several characters that were in “various stages of finished” according to streamer and content creatior Sajam.

So, in short, a massive update for Project L, with more to come. Ill be at Evo 2023 in August and as such will be provide our impressions of the demo that will be playable on the show floor. Until then, tell us what you think of the dev diary below! How do you think Project L is looking?