Riot Games is shutting down 2XKO development this year after a weak launch: "We haven’t seen enough players stick with the game"

Development of 2XKO is shutting down this year. Riot Games has announced that its League of Legends fighting game did not attract enough players to sustain future support, and the final content update will land in October. The game itself will remain playable both online and offline for the foreseeable future. "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," Riot says in its announcement. 2XKO's struggles have been clear since launch, when 80 employees were laid off immediately following the game's release. Riot says that its goal with 2XKO was to satisfy frustrated members of the fighting game community, while simultaneously making a notoriously daunting genre more accessible for new players. While the studio says it saw "small scale" evidence of success with this approach, it wasn't enough. "In recent months, the team has continued to take bold swings while fully aware of 2XKO's challenges – but to attempt another year hoping for a way forward would have been an irresponsible choice for players and the dev team," Riot says. "To be super clear: we would have continued active development if we saw any viable future, but 2XKO costs us substantially more to operate than it brings in, and engagement has stayed relatively flat despite our larger updates." 2XKO launched in January 2026 as a free-to-play game supported by microtransactions. All purchases made up until today, August 20, will be refunded to players in the weeks to come. On September 8, an update will be released which unlocks all champions for all players. At the same time, a final $40 bundle will be released that contains all previously released cosmetic content. Lux, a new character who was announced at Evo 2026, will also be released as part of the September update. The final champion, Samira, will be released in an October update that will serve as 2XKO's "final major content patch." "Looking to the future, you can count on Riot to keep exploring new genres and ways to bring players together," the studio concludes. "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." League Classic might sound fun, but as a 15-year League of Legends veteran, I'm here to tell you: You want this less than you think. [/url]

Aug 21, 2026 - 04:04

Riot Games is shutting down 2XKO development this year after a weak launch: "We haven’t seen enough players stick with the game"

Development of 2XKO is shutting down this year.

Riot Games has announced that its League of Legends fighting game did not attract enough players to sustain future support, and the final content update will land in October. The game itself will remain playable both online and offline for the foreseeable future.

"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," Riot says in its announcement.

2XKO's struggles have been clear since launch, when 80 employees were laid off immediately following the game's release. Riot says that its goal with 2XKO was to satisfy frustrated members of the fighting game community, while simultaneously making a notoriously daunting genre more accessible for new players. While the studio says it saw "small scale" evidence of success with this approach, it wasn't enough.

"In recent months, the team has continued to take bold swings while fully aware of 2XKO's challenges – but to attempt another year hoping for a way forward would have been an irresponsible choice for players and the dev team," Riot says. "To be super clear: we would have continued active development if we saw any viable future, but 2XKO costs us substantially more to operate than it brings in, and engagement has stayed relatively flat despite our larger updates."

2XKO launched in January 2026 as a free-to-play game supported by microtransactions. All purchases made up until today, August 20, will be refunded to players in the weeks to come. On September 8, an update will be released which unlocks all champions for all players. At the same time, a final $40 bundle will be released that contains all previously released cosmetic content.

Lux, a new character who was announced at Evo 2026, will also be released as part of the September update. The final champion, Samira, will be released in an October update that will serve as 2XKO's "final major content patch."

"Looking to the future, you can count on Riot to keep exploring new genres and ways to bring players together," the studio concludes. "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."

League Classic might sound fun, but as a 15-year League of Legends veteran, I'm here to tell you: You want this less than you think.

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