Riot Games to end LoL fighting game 2XK0’s development and issue refunds, less than a year since launch
Riot Games is ending active development of 2XKO, its free-to-play tag fighting game, in December – less than a year after its full launch in January. The studio said the game's performance in revenue, player retention and engagement fell far short of what was needed to make continued development sustainable, making the decision "impossible" to avoid despite widespread praise from dedicated tag-fighter fans. It marks the second high-profile free-to-play fighting game, after Warner Bros' MultiVersus, to shut down in quick succession, raising questions about whether the business model can succeed in an increasingly niche genre.
The final content patch will arrive in October, with all previously announced additions, including new characters Lux and Samira, still going ahead; every character will then be unlocked once development stops. Players who made in-game purchases before 20th August will be refunded by November, ranked lobbies will be removed in favour of casual matchmaking, and a near-complete cosmetics bundle will remain purchasable for £33.99. Servers will stay online "for the foreseeable future", and no layoffs have yet been announced, though Riot cut roughly half the development team back in February. 2XKO originated nearly a decade ago as Project L, was revealed in 2019, and launched to positive reviews this January.
- Riot Games ends 2XKO development in December, under a year post-launch
- Refunds issued for purchases made before 20th August
- All planned characters unlock free once development stops
New here? Start with this
Riot Games' 2XKO is a free-to-play "tag" fighting game built on characters from League of Legends, its hugely popular multiplayer game. Two players each control a small team of characters and swap between them mid-fight, a style favoured by dedicated fighting-game fans. It launched fully in January 2026 after years of development under the working title Project L, having first been shown to the public in 2019.
Riot is the games studio behind League of Legends, one of the most-played PC games in the world, and is owned by China's Tencent. Fighting games are a niche but passionate corner of the gaming industry, and free-to-play ones typically make money by selling cosmetic items rather than charging an upfront price, which means they need large, sustained player numbers to stay profitable.
The genre has had a rough run recently: Warner Bros' similar free-to-play fighter MultiVersus shut down not long ago, and 2XKO now faces the same fate despite strong reviews. That has raised broader questions about whether free-to-play fighting games can sustain themselves financially, even when a game is well received by the people who play it.