In one of the more heartbreaking developments in the games industry this year, Riot\u2019s League of Legends fighting game, 2XKO, will officially end active development in December.<\/p>\n
The writing has been on the wall for some time now, but the official news still hit the fighting game community like a freight train. The 2XKO team explained the situation in a blog post on August 20, admitting that there simply aren\u2019t enough active players to justify continued support.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last few months, we\u2019ve been monitoring 2XKO\u2019s trajectory closely, and what we\u2019ve 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\u2019t seen enough players stick with the game to get to a path toward sustainability,\u201d their post reads.<\/p>\n
\nWith a heavy heart, the @Play2XKO team shares an update about the future.
– Active development will end in December.
– The final content patch goes live in October.
– Servers stay online.
– In-game purchases made before August 20 will be refunded.https:\/\/t.co\/3UQF7kh5S4 pic.twitter.com\/FKquzTd6xc<\/p>\n\u2014 Riot Games (@riotgames) August 20, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As of right now, 2XKO will remain online beyond 2026, and offline play will not be affected. The team will continue to introduce new content throughout the rest of the year, including feature improvements, two new champions in Lux and Samira, and a final bug fix patch in December. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear if this will remain true in the future, though, as the wording of Riot\u2019s blog post made it seem as though the status of active online play is subject to change. \u201cWe\u2019ll give advanced notice if any of that changes,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n
The team went on to give a preview of what\u2019s coming next for the game: In the coming months, Riot will disable KO Points purchases, refund all purchases made prior to August 20, add a purchasable bundle of nearly all 2XKO cosmetic content for $39.99, and make most items available for Credits. Riot will also unlock most gameplay content, including all champions.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also removing systems like Battle Passes, KO Points, Champion Tokens, seasons, and events, as well as disabling ranked lobbies to better streamline the casual lobby experience. \u201cRanked lobbies will be disabled to ensure that we can matchmake within a single pool of players per server,\u201d the post explains. \u201cCasual lobbies will still be matchmade by skill, so you should still expect to see players around your skill level.\u201d Private lobbies will remain unaffected by these changes.<\/p>\n
Notably, the 2XKO Competitive Series will continue through the end of 2026, but after that, it\u2019s gone for good. Riot will continue to support players and tournament organizers during this time, including providing prizing for all Major and Challenger events. The final Competitive Series event will still take place in November. 2027 and onwards, TOs can continue to run both offline and online events featuring the game using their community competition guidelines.<\/p>\n
The team went on to explain why development for the game is ending, saying \u201cdiehard tag fighter players loved 2XKO, but most other fighting game players struggled to find reasons to stick with the game. \u2026We saw no meaningful, sustained change in 2XKO\u2019s trajectory; only a fraction of what it would take to trend toward sustainability. Over time it became clear it would be impossible for us to continue actively developing the game as we are today.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n2XKO – Braum Screenshots<\/h3>\n