Riot Games concludes active development on 2XKO fighting game

Riot Games has officially announced that it will cease ongoing development for 2XKO, its free-to-play, tag-team fighting game set in the League of Legends universe, effective this December. Despite an encouraging launch earlier this year, the title has faced persistent challenges in cultivating a sustainable, long-term player base.

In a candid announcement, Riot addressed the community directly regarding the game’s trajectory:

“Over the last few months, we’ve been monitoring 2XKO’s trajectory closely, and what we’ve seen is painting a clear, consistent picture: while a lot of you jumped in to try the game and there’s an incredible community that plays every day, we haven’t seen enough players stick with the game to get to a path toward sustainability.”

Servers Remain Online: What to Expect Moving Forward

While feature updates and continuous live-service support will conclude at the end of the year, Riot emphasized that 2XKO will not be shut down. Dedicated multiplayer servers will stay live for the foreseeable future, ensuring that the existing community can continue competing online. Both casual and local offline matches will remain fully functional.

Before transitioning into maintenance mode, the studio plans to deliver on its remaining roadmap commitments. Players can look forward to the release of two new champions—Lux and Samira—along with several quality-of-life adjustments and a final stability patch arriving in December.

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Full Refunds and Unlocked Roster

In an effort to show goodwill toward early adopters, Riot is rolling out significant concessions:

  • Full Refunds: All real-money transactions made on or before August 20 will be refunded entirely to players.
  • Microtransactions Disabled: Purchasing KO Points has been turned off immediately.
  • Unlocked Content: Every champion on the roster is being unlocked for all players, while previously acquired cosmetic items will remain in user inventories permanently.
  • Credit-Based Cosmetics: Profile customization items and avatars will be transitionally earnable via gameplay credits starting in September.

A Tumultuous Path to Release

Initially unveiled in 2019 under the working title Project L, the game evolved from the core mechanics of Rising Thunder—a project spearheaded by Radiant Entertainment designed to make traditional fighting games more accessible. After an early-access preview on PC in late 2025, 2XKO transitioned into its full 1.0 console and PC release in January 2026.

Despite receptive critical reviews and praised assist mechanics, engagement waned rapidly. Within three weeks of its global premiere, Riot executed a major workforce reduction, cutting roughly 80 developers—nearly half the dedicated production team—due to low player retention.

Compounding the game’s adoption struggles was a crowded market, competing for attention alongside rival tag fighters such as Invincible VS and Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls.

Did you jump into 2XKO during its launch window? Do the complete character unlocks and upcoming champions tempt you to hop into the ring before December? Share your thoughts below.