I'm back with a new post that is a follow up to the update in regards to 2XKO's 2026 characters. So, with 2XKO ending active development due to poor engagement, the team is ending most of the comms from 2XKO with the exception of some coverage for remaining competitive events and patch notes. On the previous post, I said that Arc System Works is the perfect licensee candidate for 2XKO's development cycle. We can now go into detail about this.
Arc System Works, the Japanese company responsible of the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue franchises, became an ideal licensee candidate in association with Bandai Namco, Cygames, Nexon and Marvel to make licensed fighting games that use anime-style models and cel shading, which 2XKO essentially uses in its DNA. And Arc System Works might be the perfect company to be in association with Riot Games as the fifth big company. That said, I decided to list the key benefits to 2XKO continuing active development under Arc System Works in association with Riot Games.
Motion Inputs:
We'll start with something that 2XKO never had. Motion inputs consisting of quarter circles, half circles, full circles, dragon motions and charge motions are always important when it comes to fighting games. Some fighting games like Street Fighter 6 have simple controls that involve one button combos and one button specials with directional influences Smash uses. Invincible VS only uses one button specials with directional influence. 2XKO uses two special buttons that have directional influence.
We can actually keep the S1 and S2 buttons and one-button specials with directional influence, but we make specials also performable with motion inputs and pressing any attack button and supers also performable with QCF/QCB + B + C. Motion input specials deal a little more damage than one-button specials with directional influence. It is what the "Good!' means in DNF Duel and Marvel Tokon.
Long-Term Sustainability:
When 2XKO came out on console, half of the team behind it was laid off, citing that momentum has not been reached to the level required for long-term sustainability. They were committed until the news popped up that active development will end in December. Do you know who can provide enough energy and help cover costs and tackle challenges? Arc System Works. As I have said on X, with Arc's help, Riot will be able to have a sustained player engagement and looking at ways to cover and curb rising costs. If Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls could get a long-term development cycle like Guilty Gear Strive is, then Arc System Works is the perfect licensee candidate to help Riot give 2XKO's development cycle a second wind.
Six Characters Per Year:
A lot of people were clamouring and complaining about fighting games like Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8 and even Marvel Tokon having a cadence of releasing four additional characters per year. 2XKO was originally supposed to have a release cadence of five characters per year, but changed it to six and to seven. We got Samira and Sett coming as the last two characters to complete the roster to 18 before active development sunsets. But ArcSys' help can help change everything. We could be seeing a release cadence of six characters per year while Arc System Works' help can curb rising costs. Now, agreeing or disagreeing with their complaints against a release cadence of four characters per year is up to you. But for me, I strongly agree, especially with characters coming out in each season.
Now, if two more characters are going to expand the roster to 20 if 2XKO's development was licensed to Arc System Works, and if we were asked who will be the next two characters are gonna be, I choose Miss Fortune and Gangplank. During the game's post-launch, Senna and Thresh came out on the same day to honor the lore in League of Legends. If we get to see another double-header release that honors the lore when Arc System Works became a licensee to Riot, Miss Fortune and Gangplank coming out on the same day would honor the Bilgewater lore.
Custom Lobbies:
Currently, we have private lobbies that are only meant for those you invited. I have been asking for custom lobbies to be both private and public, but the team seemingly doesn't have the resources for that. Arc System Works has a lot of resources to provide Riot with. With Arc's extra resources, Riot can make custom lobbies both private and public. It worked well with other fighting games Arc has done with.
Better Character Output and More Guilty Gear and BlazBlue Equivalents:
Arc System Works helping Riot can help deliver characters that could be Guilty Gear and BlazBlue equivalents in a better output. I went to the Champion Gallery in League of Legends in search of characters that could be equivalent to and have playbooks from the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue characters. Like, we know that Annie and Miss Fortune will have playbooks from Carl Clover and Noel Vermillion, and Zeri will have a playbook of Mega Man X, which, of course, has nothing to do with Guilty Gear or BlazBlue, but I'm just saying it for subjectivity. I have found one character who could have a playbook from one of the Guilty Gear characters. That is Shen. Yes, Shen could be an Answer equivalent. I had a stark interest in seeing these characters become playable in 2XKO, until we heard that active development is ending. But Arc System Works can help make that happen.
But something hit me. After I watched the Samira trailer, it turns out that she is not just a Dante equivalent, but a Noel equivalent as well with chaining together gun shots at a rank of A or higher and stylish gun shots, hence "stylish". I like to hereby state that Samira is, of course, a combination of Dante and Noel Vermillon and maybe 2B? She might be on par with 2B, I don't know.
Anyway, in other news, Arc System Works is opening a new Tokyo studio for their third original fighting game. Arc System Works' help can provide characters to not only have playbooks from Guilty Gear and BlazBlue characters, but also have playbooks from the characters from their third original fighting game being developed by a Tokyo studio. This can unlock a lot of possibilities of seeing more characters to have playbooks from Guilty Gear, BlazBlue and the third original fighting game's characters.
These are the five key benefits to 2XKO continuing active development under Arc System Works. But there is one caveat to this. If Riot actually licensed it to Arc System Works, will it still be called 2XKO? Well, not necessarily. It can be rebranded to "League of Legends Versus," which I think it's a perfect name to pick up where 2XKO left off. If Arc System Works' licensed anime fighters could succeed, then there's a chance that a hypothetical League of Legends Versus can succeed.
Let me pitch my idea. I would love for 2XKO continuning active development under Arc System Works to benefit motion inputs, a release cadence of six characters per year, long-term sustainability, custom lobbies and better character output and more Guilty Gear and BlazBlue equivalents.
I have said that Sonic Racing: Crossworlds is getting another year of content despite its low engagement while Brawlhalla stood a chance. How come Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and Brawlhalla stood a chance despite their low player engagement while 2XKO isn't? Well, there is one obvious reason.
Like Marvel Tokon, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is not a live-service game. Non-live service games tend to sustain player engagement like glue without the use of live-service elements. We did realize that many live service games like 2XKO aren't as sustainable as we once thought, so sunsetting them was the only choice they have as it will cost them more if they continued active development while retention is low. That's how Highguard became an utter failure that Wildlight should've delayed it for quality.
Brawlhalla is considered a live-service game, but it is actually developed by an indie studio. Indie live service games actually tend to sustain player engagement without facing a round of layoffs and have the tendency to maintain sustainability. That's the point to this.
With Arc System Works' help, Riot will be able sustain player engagement, revive most of the comms, put competitive events in their own league circuit and explore the possibility of confirming Malcolm Graves, Twisted Fate, Zed, Leona, Veigar, Lucian, Camille, Garen, Vayne, Sona, Miss Fortune, Gangplank and everyone else in a giant pile of legendary characters! Again, no slant on 2XKO ending active development at 18 characters. It's a decent even number of characters in a 2v2 tag fighter. It's an outcome I refuse to reject. You should accept it.
Losing 2XKO in favor of Marvel Tokon getting long-term support, we can compare it to that one part in Mega Man X: Command Mission; losing Spider in favor of Zero's sustainability with the Anti-Rebellion League. It's something that I hope a hypothetical "Bug Fables 2: Dawn of the Four Kingdoms" doesn't have that.
While it sucks that 2XKO will not get a Year 2 like Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is because of ending active development after a short one-year run due to low player engagement, we got our hands on the game and that's what matters, right? Now, this is where you'll might say, "Wow, 2XKO feels different." And it will be different. It'll be a good difference and a Cinderella story for us fighting game fans for when Riot licensed 2XKO's development cycle to Arc System Works.
Speaking of a Cinderella story, I said Brawlhalla is getting future content for years to come. But I came across a platform fighter that is not free-to-play, but is getting years of support, Punch Upon a Time. That's right, Punch Upon a Time, a Smash Bros.-like with fairy tale characters, is nearing its early access release as its second beta has concluded. This is a game I may be comfortable playing when I don't feel like playing competitive fighting games, including 2XKO.
If a personality-heavy platform fighter like MultiVersus had to die after it couldn't stand a chance like it did in the Open Beta because of aggressive monetization mechanics Riot wouldn't dare implement when developing 2XKO, Punch Upon a Time would serve as a spiritual successor to MultiVersus and will recieve years of support.
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