2XKO is Ceasing Active Development...

So, Season 3 and Lux are fast approaching and we have been waiting for news about them since the Coven Bundle came out. An update popped up and unfortunately, it is not looking good. Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a brand new post that has me quite shocked. So, with fighting games rolling around like tumbleweeds in the wind for decades, you would know that the fighting game community has been thriving, especially recently with the recent ones, starting with Invincible VS, to Avatar Legends: the Fighting Game, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls and even SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level. There are a ton of fighting games beyond them coming. But specifically, I like to point out to the direction of the tag fighter on this post, the League of Legends tag fighter, 2XKO.

So, this game has came out of Early Access and launched on console in January, being met with positive buzz for innovative tag mechanics and co-op gameplay. However, as soon as the game launched on console, things took a turn for the game. Half of the 2XKO team was laid off. Momentum has not reached the level need for long-term development despite the buzz.

You would know that Riot is gonna remain committed to supporting 2XKO to deliver future characters to make all of the fighting game fans that play League of Legends swoon and commit happy outbursts. Well, sadly, I have some sad news for you guys. I understand there a lot of characters that have been itching in the roster. Now, it might be 2XKO 2.0. I am not ruling out that possibility, but in terms of 2XKO getting the same upgrade treatment as Granblue Fantasy Versus, don't get your hopes up.

Riot has posted an article about the future of 2XKO and it's... not a good one.

That's right. 2XKO is ending active development at the end of 2026 with the intention of unlocking all characters, bulding existing cosmetics and refunding those who spend money on KO Points and the Starter Bundles before August 20. *sigh* You know, when I said that... if a game, like, I don't know, Skullgirls could continue active development despite challenges because of Autumn Games being the IP holders, then anything was possible, I did not mean for 2XKO to end active development after a year. I never thought that ending active development after a short run on a buzz-worthy free-to-play tag fighter was actually legal and possible.

Seriously, there are so many words that make me want to punch a hole in the wall. They literally said that 2XKO cost them substantially more to operate than it brings in that ceasing active development was the best route forward due to its low player retention. This just tells me that Riot seems to be holding on to the fact of revenue goals the current retention fell short of as I realized that live service games are not as sustainable as we once thought as evident on Wikipedia.

Today, sustainability is something that fighting games have been banking on and it's working. Street Fighter, Tekken, Guilty Gear Strive, Granblue Fantasy Versus and even Fatal Fury have achieved sustainability, with smaller fighters like Skullgirls, Rivals of Aether II and Saturday AM: Battle Manga to follow suit soon. People have been chanting for these games to get supported long-term. The perfect example at this moment is Guilty Gear Strive. The game sold around an estimate of over 10 million copies, which contributed to Strive having a long-term support up to the 2.0 era. Granblue Fantasy Versus sold over 5 million copies. It's enough to confirm Rising, the sequel to the vanilla Granblue Fantasy Versus. Both of these games are literally out there selling like hotcakes and building momentum.

It appears that 2XKO is not the first fighting game to have such an ephemeral development cycle. If you don't remember, Mortal Kombat 1 couldn't get a third year of support to have a Year 3 pass due to its poor sales that fell short of its goal because of microtransactions pertaining to paying money for Fatalities, citing that Mortal Kombat 9 was better than Mortal Kombat 1. The worst thing about this is that I am cancelling my future plans by deleting and editing posts that pertain to the future of 2XKO. I have a follow up post that have the factors that cite 2XKO's flop at launch coming soon. This is how messed up 2XKO ceasing active development after a short one-year development cycle.

Now, does this mean that we will never see another League of Legends fighter? Well, no. See, Riot could license the League of Legends fighter IP to another company and become a licensor to the company to become a licensee of the IP. But it is quite a hard knock life for us fighting game fans since a buzz-worthy tag fighter like 2XKO couldn't stand a darn chance and has to conclude active development after an ephemeral one-year development cycle, especially when there are FGC members that played League of Legends that are fans of Riven, Sett, Garen, Vayne, Sona, Gangplank, Miss Fortune, Lucian, Veigar, Malcolm Graves, Leona, Camille, whoever you can think of! A precedent seals the deal. If 2XKO could end active development after a disappointingly short one-year run due to low player retention, then I'll probably have to follow Diaphone's footsteps just by quitting my job showing my support.

A couple of big companies that made licensed fighters that got sequels like Cygames and Atlus didn't hold back on Persona 4 Arena and Granblue Fantasy Versus since they became so hype. If Riot wants to curb rising costs, at least license the League of Legends fighting game IP to another company. They are heading off into the sunset, so why not make some cash on it? Heck, might as well just license it to Arc System Works. They became a licensee for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. At least they're sustaining its player engagement and not let them fall into irrelevancy. But that is simply my thoughts.