Riot halts development of 2XKO, its League of Legends fighter

Riot Games is ending active development of 2XKO, its team-based fighting game inspired by League of Legends, as of December 2026. Despite planned updates until the end of the year, the publisher admits the game failed to retain enough players to be profitable.

Poor retention despite a promising start

Launched in January 2026 after a beta phase in October 2025, 2XKO quickly showed signs of weakness. In February, Riot laid off around 80 developers, citing a lack of "overall momentum" to justify a team of that size. Six months later, the verdict is clear: "What we’ve observed paints a clear and consistent picture: while many players tried the game and an active community plays it daily, we haven’t seen enough players stick with it to ensure its long-term viability," the publisher explains in a official post.

The game, designed as an assist fighter (a team-based combat where characters can assist each other), won over fans of tag fighters but struggled to convince the broader fighting game community. Despite regular updates and competitive events, engagement remained stable… but insufficient. "Even during peak moments, we saw no significant or lasting change in 2XKO’s trajectory," Riot states.

End of updates, but servers stay online

Active development will end in December 2026, but online servers will remain accessible "beyond 2026." Until then, Riot promises:

• Two new characters (Lux and Samira) added by October, followed by a final patch in December.
• Unlocking all champions and most cosmetic content.
• Refunds for purchases made before August 20, 2026.
• Removing paid systems (Battle Pass, KO Points, champion tokens) and competitive seasons.
• Ending ranked game lobbies, replaced by a single matchmaking system based on player level.

The official 2XKO competitive series will continue until the end of 2026, with a final event in November. From 2027 onward, tournament organizers can still host community competitions, without direct support from Riot.

A flawed business model

Riot admits that 2XKO costs "substantially more to operate than it earns." Despite adjustments (staff reductions, business model changes), no solution reversed the trend. "Over time, it became clear that we could no longer continue actively developing the game as we have been," the publisher concludes.

"This isn’t the news we wanted to hear today. We send our full support to the team that worked so hard to bring this game to life." — Evo, organizer of the world’s largest fighting game tournamentTranslated from French

"Riot really needs to stop canceling everything that isn’t as big as LoL. You’ll never reach that level of success again." — A player on XTranslated from French

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Another setback for live service games

2XKO joins the list of live service games abandoned early. Riot had invested years in this project, first hinted at in 2017 and officially confirmed in 2019. Its failure fits a broader trend: Sony recently removed live service elements from its in-development Horizon game, while Remedy halted major updates for FBC: Firebreak, though it will keep its online servers running.

For players, the transition will be gradual: servers remain active, and existing content stays accessible. But for Riot, this decision marks a turning point in its strategy to diversify beyond League of Legends. The question remains: can the publisher find a balance between ambition and profitability for its future projects?