Riot Games has confirmed it will wind down active development of its free-to-play fighting game 2XKO at the end of 2026, citing a player base that tried the game but never stuck around in the numbers needed to keep it running.
In a blog post published today, the studio said it had been watching the game's trajectory closely since its full launch in January. "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 wrote. The company added that even after well-received updates, it saw "no meaningful, sustained change in 2XKO's trajectory; only a fraction of what it would take to trend toward sustainability."
The decision follows a rough stretch for the project. As PC Gamer notes, Riot laid off roughly 80 developers about a month after launch, saying at the time that momentum "hasn't reached the level needed to support a team of this size long term." The studio insisted then that it was still committed to the game. It has now seen enough.
What happens to the game
Riot is not pulling the plug outright. According to the announcement, servers for online play will stay live beyond 2026, though the company has not said for how long. Offline play is unaffected, and Riot says the game will remain playable on all platforms. There is also more content still coming before the lights dim on development.
- All champions are being unlocked for online play immediately.
- A September patch (version 1.3.1, dated September 8 per Rock Paper Shotgun) adds Lux, described as a "shoto-inspired character with a simple kit."
- An October patch, the final major one, adds Samira, the Desert Rose, a "bounty hunter who fights with bombastic flair."
- A final bug-fix patch is planned for December.
- Ranked mode is being removed so the game can matchmake within a single pool of players per server, though casual lobbies will still be skill-matched.
Refunds and the payout for players
Riot is trying to give paying players a soft landing. Anyone who spent money on 2XKO on or before August 20 will be refunded, and Riot says any content owned stays yours to keep. Avatar and player profile items will become unlockable with in-game Credits, and a new $40 (about \u00a333.99) bundle arriving with the September patch packs in every champion's skins, chromas, and taunts.
The studio framed the wind-down as an attempt to "do right by the players who have invested in us so far," as well as the developers who built the game, and said it is still figuring out what more it can offer tournament organizers, competitors, and creators who supported the fighting game community around 2XKO.
The closure caps a long road. Speculation about a Riot fighting game dates back years, with the project only officially confirmed in 2019 before landing its 2XKO title and finally reaching full release in January 2026. Built as a 2v2 tag or "assist" fighter, it always aimed at a demanding niche, and Riot admitted that "diehard tag fighter players loved 2XKO, but most other fighting game players struggled to find reasons to stick with the game."
What it means for players
If you play 2XKO, you have a clear timeline now: two more characters in Lux and Samira, a final patch in December, and servers that stay online for online matches with no firm end date. Anyone who spent money before August 20 should watch for a refund. For fans tracking Riot's other projects, this is a reminder that even a well-funded studio will cut a live-service game loose fast when engagement stays flat.