Riot Games to end active development of fighting game 2XKO this year

MANILA, Philippines - Riot Games has announced that active development for its tag-team fighting game 2XKO will conclude at the end of 2026, marking an unexpected end for a project that spent years in development and represented the studio's first major entry into the fighting game genre.

In a statement released Thursday, August 20, Riot Games said the decision came after a lengthy evaluation of the game's performance, citing challenges in player retention and long-term sustainability despite continued support from a dedicated community.

“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,” said Riot Games.

The developer stressed that 2XKO's servers will remain online beyond 2026, and that the game will continue to be playable across PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Offline play will also remain unaffected.

Originally revealed as "Project L" before adopting the name 2XKO in 2024, the game was envisioned as Riot's take on the fighting game genre, bringing together champions from League of Legends in fast-paced tag-team battles.

Speaking to Philstar.com during Tokyo Game Show 2025, Game Director Shaun Rivera described the game's defining feature as its "duo play" system, which allowed two players to compete together on the same team.

At the time, Riot Games hoped the approach would offer something different from traditional fighting games while staying true to the competitive roots of the genre.

Though the game saw a following from tag-fighter fans and members of the fighting game community, Riot Games noted that the game struggled to maintain broader engagement.

"Die-hard tag fighter players loved 2XKO, but most other fighting game players struggled to find reasons to stick with the game," explained Riot Games.

According to the developer, releases of new content throughout 2026, including champions Akali, Senna and Thresh, as well as the PvE mode "The Climb", generated positive reactions but failed to meaningfully change the game's overall trajectory.

Riot Games added that they explored alternatives such as reducing team sizes, adjusting update schedules, and changing the game's business model before ultimately deciding to end active development.

Before support winds down, the game plans to release two final champions. Lux will arrive in September through Patch 1.3.1, while Samira will launch in October as the game's last playable fighter.

The company is also making major changes intended to support the game's long-term availability. All champions will be unlocked for players, several cosmetic items will become easier to access, and purchases made before August 20 will be refunded. Ranked mode, seasonal content, battle passes, and certain monetization systems will also be removed.

The 2XKO Competitive Series will continue through the remainder of 2026, with its final official event scheduled for November. Community organizers will still be allowed to host tournaments afterward under Riot's competition guidelines.

Despite the announcement, Riot said it remains proud of what the team accomplished.

"Ultimately, we’re proud of the game this team built. We’re grateful to everyone who made the game what it is today, and we’re looking forward to the rest of this year’s releases. Looking to the future, you can count on Riot to keep exploring new genres and ways to bring players together. For now, we’re focused on leaving 2X in a great spot. Then, we’ll head back into the R&D lab, where we’ll take time to learn and work on how we come back stronger for the next swing at the next genre," said Riot Games.