2XKO Under Arc System Works - Will it Be a Possibility? + Key Benefits

2XKO is a free-to-play tag fighter set in the League of Legends universe that is primed to end active development after an ephemeral one-year development cycle due to its low player retention. I mean, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is getting another year of content. I did seem to realize that live-service games like 2XKO aren't as sustainable as we once thought. But there is a little hope because I have thought that Riot Games could actually license the 2XKO IP to Arc System Works as a perfect licensee candidate. Let's jump right in.

In today's post, I'm going to talk about one of the Japanese companies that can potentially become a licensee of the 2XKO IP, Arc System Works. The team behind the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue franchises has made Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls as a licensee to Marvel. Despite the PC issues, it was well-recieved and sold like over 750,000 and hailed it as a spiritual successor to Marvel vs. Capcom. I have thought about this in private and on social media, so this brings me to ask this question. What if 2XKO's development was handled by Arc System Works as a licensee in association with Riot Games? Let's go over the key benefits to Arc handling development.

Motion Inputs:

First off, we'll talk about something that 2XKO never had. Motion inputs consisting of quarter circles, half circles, dragon inputs and charge motions are always important when it comes to fighting games. Some fighting games have simple controls that involve button mashing and one button specials. 2XKO uses two special buttons with directional influences. We can actually keep the S1 and S2 buttons, but make specials also performable with motion inputs and pressing any attack button. Motion input versions deal a little more damage than one-button specials, which is what the "Good!' means.

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? 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.

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.

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:

Guilty Gear and BlazBlue are the two fighting games Arc System Works owns the rights to. Them helping Riot can help deliver characters in a better output. League of Legends have characters that could have playbooks from the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue characters. Examples would be Miss Fortune having Noel Vermillion's playbook and Shen having Bang Shishigami or Answer's playbook.

These are the five benefits to 2XKO continuing active development under Arc System Works. But there is one caveat to this. If Riot 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. If Arc System Works' anime fighters could succeed, then there's a chance that a hypothetical League of Legends Versus can succeed. It became a huge wake-up call within Marvel Tokon. It brought the X-Men characters back into the fighting game genre, which contributed to its strong sales nearing a million units, mostly on the PS5 version. In fact, Cyclops and Jubilee are coming to the game, with others like Gambit, Rogue and even Emma Frost to be coming through subsequent Year Passes.

As it turns out, Riot may not be the only company to be in association with Arc System Works because there are other big companies that could potentially be in association with them, like SEGA to license a Sonic fighting game and Square Enix to license a Final Fantasy fighting game. They would be awesome. Arc System Works, in fact, have confirmed a One Piece fighting game as their brand new IP to have 2D sprites, which is great.

See, 2XKO may have not been able to stand a chance to get a longer development cycle like other fighting games did. They are ending most of the comms from 2XKO in November 6 with the exception of remaining competitive events and patch notes. Beyond them, we will never hear anything from the team ever again. But there is a spark of hope. Who is gonna give 2XKO a second wind? Arc System Works. It might be a possibility.

Arc System Works' help can be able to give 2XKO a second wind, along with an opportunity to revive most of the comms and the put competitive events under Arc World Tour. We will have to wait and see if Riot could actually license the 2XKO IP to Arc System Works so that they could explore the possibility of confirming Malcolm Graves, Leona, Veigar, Lucian, Camille, Garen, Vayne, Sona, Miss Fortune, Gangplank and everyone else in their giant pile of legendary characters! I think it just might work.

Can We See The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age Come to the Classics Catalog Soon?

Hey, now that Mega Man X: Command Mission is available on the classics catalog on the PS4 and PS5, can we talk about seeing another turn-based RPG released in 2004 to be in the classics catalog, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age? Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a new post that is gonna make me satisfactory. For quite some time, I have been playing a lot of Mega Man X: Command Mission since its release on the classics catalog on the PS4 and PS5. I did a lot better than the last time I played this game when I was young. But do you know what I like to see on the classics catalog? The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. This is another turn-based RPG that is an adaptation of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy and can most definetely go toe-to-toe with Mega Man X: Command Mission. Great graphics, serious tone and dialogue and a third-party perspective outside of combat.

This is another game I played back in the day when I was kid on the original Xbox. That game was hard, until I realized why it was so hard. I was rushing. The game has random encounters, but uses the Eye of Sauron as the signal of entering a battle. When this game comes out on the classics catalog, there is one thing that I am planning to do that I should've had done back in the day.

Have you heard of a slang term, level the playing field? The term means that if the enemy is higher than your level, you must level up your party to the same level the enemy is on to even the stakes. This means that instead of rushing through, I spend time levelling up the party up to the level I'm satisfied before facing the boss. This is something I plan to do once The Third Age launches on the classics catalog. Equipping stronger gear is also beneficial, but that alone is not enough to justify an advantage.

It turned out really well when I was playing an unhinged amount of Command Mission, especially when defeating bosses needed more time in the oven levelling the party up until I'm satisfied and equipping stronger weapons and weapons that exploit weaknesses. These are the two things you must do when playing an RPG game with a party system. Spending time levelling up the party until you're satisfied before facing the boss instead of rushing and equipping stronger gear.

Mega Man X: Command Mission came out within the same generation as The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age and has sold well. According to EA, the game has sold over an estimate of 1 million units worldwide, rendering it a commercial success. The Third Age also follows a similar formula compared to Command Mission; a sense of a fleshed-out party with original characters, random encounters and turn-based combat. Even though The Third Age is aimed at mature audiences, it became a cult fan favorite for quite some time.

A lot of people want to revisit this game and we can hopefully see it soon now that Command Mission is out in the classics catalog for the PS4 and PS5. And not just on the PS4 and PS5, but also on the GameCube through the Switch 2's GameCube catalog. Xbox players will be able to play original Xbox version of The Third Age on modern Xbox consoles and on PC through backwards compatibility. I didn't explain this fully on the post that talks about how the sixth generation of gaming became the sweet spot for many third-party titles because there are syntaxes in this post I won't fit there.

Now that we have Command Mission, let's hope that The Third Age follows suit soon so that we, gamers who were born in the mid 90s, can revisit this game. That's something we must chase for. If we have an EA Games title in the classics catalog, then The Third Age could make its debut to the classics catalog one day. I'm not confirming anything, just saying it's possible.

2XKO 2026 Characters Theory (UPDATE 5)

In an event that I did not see coming, Samira will not be the only character on the docket because we have another character revealed to release alongside her before Evo France even began. Let's jump right in.

I am back with an update that I did not see that coming. Remember what I said that 2XKO will stop active development at 17 characters? Well, I got some good news for you. Samira will not be the only character to launch on October 27 because an we have another character coming to 2XKO to launch alongside Samira. And that is Sett, the Boss. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, Sett is officially coming to 2XKO as the 18th and final character. Now, who is Sett, you ask? Let's know about his lore and go over a couple excitements and one thing that I will never be experiencing.

Sett is the leader of Ionia's growing criminal underworld who rose to prominence in the wake of the war with Noxus. While he became a humble challenger in the fighting pits of Navori, he became a well-known fighter and gained notoriety for his savage strength to fend off the Noxian army within the "Rebellion Army" in Noxus.

Fourth Ionian:

A fourth Ionian is something I have been wanting and with Sett being the fourth Ionian in 2XKO, the placement has been put together. We now have two vastaya and two Japanese warriors all polished up and ready to go. I think that we're gonna see an all-Ionian match.

18th Character:

Originally, we were supposed to have 17 characters, but Sett is the 18th and final character to even out the roster. Having 18 characters in 2XKO is pretty much a sound and decent thing. 18 is essentially a decent number of characters in a tag fighter and is less claustrophobic than a smaller roster.

Planned Duo of Sett and Lux:

Lux is a shoto-inspired character in 2XKO, but Sett isn't a shoto, but a fighting-type character. I have planned a duo of the two fighting game-style characters along with another one for Akali and Samira. It's something I'll be looking forward to. I can kind of see why is Lux a pseudo-Star Gladiator character in 2XKO. I think she has more flexibility in 2XKO than in League of Legends and her baton glows. And with Sett on his way, I expect him to be a pseudo-Virtua Fighter character.

Double Boxer Synergy:

Vi is the boxer-type character that wields Hextech gauntlets and she will no longer be the only one because we're getting Sett as the second boxer. I think what is really cool is that like how we saw the strong synergy between Yasuo and Akali, two renowned warriors of Ionia, I think we're gonna see a strong synergy between two boxer-type characters.

Boxer and Kicker Duo:

Vi and Sett are boxer-types. However, there is one character that will never see the light of day. That is Camille. Yes, Camille would be straight up dope in 2XKO with her kicks. And sadly, our kicking android will never join the roster since 2XKO is ending active development due to low player retention while most of the comms are being disabled, with the exception of some coverage for remaining competitive events and patch notes. But there is still hope... Stay tuned until in the later stage of this post.

Final roster:

Ahri
Akali
Blitzcrank
Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Illaoi
Jinx
Lux
Samira
Senna
Sett
Teemo
Thresh
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo

I'm gonna take the final 18 character roster and divide into the final SEGA and Capcom sides across the board and state the key points for the final time. It has to be the final time since 2XKO is ending active development at 18 characters. As usual, we'll start with the SEGA side.

Ahri, Blitzcrank. Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx and Samira and Warwick remain, Thresh moves and Sett is introduced. The final SEGA side is Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Samira, Sett, Thresh and Warwick.

Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Lux, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo remain and Senna moves. That puts Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Lux, Senna, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo on the Capcom side for the final time.

Final SEGA side:

Ahri
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Samira
Sett
Thresh
Warwick

Final Capcom side:

Akali
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Lux
Senna
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo

Final key points:

Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Blitzcrank on the SEGA side = Vectorman
Caitlyn on the SEGA side = Gain Ground
Ekko on the SEGA side = Pulseman
Jinx on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Samira on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Sett on the SEGA side = Virtua Fighter
Thresh on the SEGA side = The Mansion of Hidden Souls
Warwick on the SEGA side = Altered Beast
Akali on the Capcom side = Power Stone
Darius on the Capcom side = Knights of the Round
Lux on the Capcom side = Star Gladiator
Senna on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers
Yasuo on the Capcom side = Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams

So we now have the final standings for the SEGA and Capcom sides with final key points on the board. Since 2XKO's active development ends in December to indicate that there will not be any more characters beyond this point, everything have been finalized and cemented. This means no more changes to ever be made.

Where we stand now, this is the final update as we're less than two months away from 2XKO's development conclusion at 18 characters. Seeing Sett on his way must have driven me to still play 2XKO. I have a small spark of hope, but it's put out because a League of Legends MMO is in the works. But it came back because I have thought of something that hit me. I have said that there is still hope, so here it is.

I made a post on X suggesting that there is a company that Riot could potentially license the 2XKO IP to. That is Arc System Works. The Japanese company known for the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue franchises became a licensee for multiple companies they have been in association with to make licensed fighting games that use Guilty Gear Xrd's 2.5D models and take place within the established universes. They, in fact, have a One Piece fighting game in the works as a brand new IP that is using 2D sprites. I am going to forward this here with an imaginary and fun pitch. I want you to imagine 2XKO continuing development under Arc System Works in association with Riot Games. Yes, this is now a possibility.

I can actually cross Dragon Ball FighterZ out because despite Bandai Namco being a licensor for that game, it has certain characters that come in different forms and personalities, making it a personality-light game. Cygames has licensed the Granblue Fantasy Versus IP. When it sold like hotcakes, a sequel was localized to the West to have new characters, new features and even rollback netcode, the golden netcode to fight lag no matter the stage. Nexon forged a license to establish DNF Duel, but due to poor sales, a Season 2 was never materialized and has been left in the dust. Eventually, Disney has created a license for a Marvel fighting game for Arc to make Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls since Disney owns Marvel as a whole and with strong sales that bring X-Men back into a fighting game, subsequent Year Passes may be guaranteed to potentially have more X-Men, like Gambit, Rogue and even Emma Frost.

Arc System Works never discriminated their licensors or let their games fall into irrelevancy after a short development cycle since their anime fighters became so hype that they stood a chance and sustained player engagement for the games or allow the teams they work with face layoffs. They became committed and obligated to building their games' future. If Arc System Works plans to become a licensee to the next big company that has never been associated with, Riot Games may be a perfect candidate as a licensor to them. Practically speaking, it takes a lot of resources to make a successful game and prevent the team from facing layoffs. And Arc System Works is the perfect company to be invaluable of giving Riot more than enough resources to give 2XKO a second wind and preventing the team from shrinking.

It's gonna have a part where a duo cosplays as Miss Fortune and Gangplank and travels to Los Angeles for Miss Fortune to point a pistol at their heads and for Gangplank to rob and pillage the studio to force them to do it to serve as a hypothetical teaser of Miss Fortune and Gangplank as the first two characters for a hypothetical Arc System Works era of 2XKO. Riot may be the perfect licensor to Arc System Works to continue active development of 2XKO. This is something that I want to go into detail in a future post where I go over the key benefits to 2XKO continuing active development under Arc System Works as a licensee in association with Riot Games. Stay tuned.

Can We Get a Remake for Mega Man X: Command Mission?

As you all know, Onimusha: Way of the Sword sold over 1 million copies worldwide and counting at launch, making it a commercial success along with Resident Evil: Requiem and the all new Pragmata. The game industry is struggling in 2026, but Capcom, of all companies, has developed a trifecta of critically acclaimed games. 2026 is set to become a career year for Capcom. With Onimusha: Way of the Sword becoming a resounding success and Mega Man: Dual Override on its way, Capcom is open to reviving most of their IPs that have been dormant for years to decades. Everyone is petitioning and pushing for different games to come back. One of them being a franchise that was left off in a cliffhanger, the mature take on the Mega Man series, Mega Man X.

It is a sub franchise of the original Mega Man franchise that can most definetely make a comeback. Different cast of characters, serious and mature tone and the introduction of Reploids and Mavericks. Many people liked the series better than the original Mega Man because of its serious tone and dialogue we'd experience in the original Teen Titans. The first six games have 2D sprites and the last two games introduced 2.5D graphics. There is a turn-based RPG on the franchise, Mega Man X: Command Mission.

This is a turn-based JRPG that can most definetely go toe-to-toe with Expedition 33 and many other turn-based RPGs. Great turn-based combat, Hyper Mode transformations, even more serious tone than most of the other games and characters that never appeared in any of the mainline games. The PS2 version sold 36,635 units and the GameCube version sold 18,599 units. Now that Capcom is looking to revive most of their dormant IPs, I think it's time we get a modern remake for Mega Man X: Command Mission.

Here's the thing. If you're playing the PS2 version, it runs on a rough 30 FPS, but has a decent random encounter rate. You will notice that Command Mission is one of the third-party titles within the sixth generation era that has technical limits on the PS2 version. But throw the same game to the GameCube and you'll experience that the game runs on a buttery smooth 60 FPS, but has an annoyingly higher random encounter rate than the PS2 version. I think we can see the remake run at 60 FPS on modern platforms and have the use of the RE Engine at 1080p resolution.

Remember what I said that the remake can have enemies visible on the field instead of random encounters? I think it's a bit absurd to have that since there are enemies visible on certain areas that get you to battles that you can't escape, so we can keep the random encounters, but to make it easier and less annoying, an option to toggle random encounters on and off like in Wild Arms 4 and 5 on the fly. These are actually the first two things I want for the remake; run at 1080p resolution in 60 FPS on modern platforms and the option to set the rate of the random encounter.

The next thing that is most obvious is an intro. When you start a new game, you'd realize that the game lacks an intro as many games have an intro. There is an outro that appears when you beat Redips. It's absurd for Command Mission to just lack an intro that entails the introduction of Giga City. I think an intro can work.

The next thing is innovative and cinematic combat system. The combat system in Command Mission is pretty much decent, but lacked some potential. But we can give it potential by bringing cinematic goodness to the combat system. This makes the pacing a lot better.

The next thing is obvious, changing the way we equip Force Metals. They are trinkets that augment a characters stats. I liked the Force Metal system. But my main problem is having a limited amount of Force Metal slots. For example, X has four available slots, but not everyone because Massimo, for example, has two available slots. But I think we can change it to equipping Force Metals in the same style as how we equip badges in Paper Mario, meaning that we can equip Force Metals without the use of limited slots. But the penalty will remain. If the Alert sign appears when hovering the Force Metal that will exceed the max erosion, equipping it will have a penalty that lasts until the battle ends, so be careful and watch what you're equipping.

And last but certainly not least, a New Game+. Many games, especially in the modern generations have a New Game+ and it's unlockable after beating the game for the first time. With New Game+, the current level, Zenny, Force Metals and weapons you have and the progress made in the Deployment Center in the original playthrough you cleared will carry over to the beginning of the journey. It makes boss fights a bit easier and can soar through enemies.

Let me pitch my idea. I would love for a Mega Man X: Command Mission remake to have a 1080p resolution at a buttery smooth 60 FPS on modern platforms, the use of the RE Engine, an intro, an option to toggle random encounters on and off, innovative and cinematic turn-based combat, change the way we equip Force Metals without the use of slots and a New Game+ to have all of the items you acquired and the progress you made in the original playthrough. All of this is to make things up to snuff.

I genuinely think that the music, combat, art direction, serious tone, Hyper Mode transformations and everything else in Command Mission is brilliant. But that brillance is sullied by the PS2 version running at 30 FPS and the GameCube version running at 60 FPS due to the PS2 version's technical limits, the combat system lacking some potential, lacking an intro and limited Force Metal slots. But a hypothetical remake can fix the respective issues. But overall, Command Mission is indeed a great game I played in my childhood and recently since the launch on the classics catalog. But why is that important to talk about? I'm glad you have asked.

During my childhood, I had trouble playing this game until I have gotten a bit better by equipping weapons that exploit weaknesses. And since the launch of the classics catalog, I have gotten a lot better. It's not just equipping weapons that exploit weaknesses, but spending more to level up the party until I'm satisfied with it and doing something that I hadn't done during my childhood, defeating optional bosses to get Ultimate Armor and Absolute Zero. I tested out the new Hyper Mode and they both pack a punch.

The Great Redips battle was intense, but I didn't beat it once, but twice. The second run was much faster than the first run, all because the new Hyper Mode armor I acquired given me the ultimate cheese I need to defeat bosses in Chapter 10 in the fewest amount of turns and had to restock on Cure Alls because of the move Great Redips uses to apply every status aliment on all. I forgot what is it called.

Do you remember the Everlasting King battle in Bug Fables? It's quite similar to the Great Redips battle I have not beaten during my childhood. Over time, during my Bug Fables playthrough, it became essentially clear that the Wasp King literally has the same type of goal as Redips in terms of ruling fictional worlds. It's exactly like that. You'd expect the sour betrayal had shocked fans.

With Capcom reviving dormant IPs, thanks to the success of Onimusha: Way of the Sword, I like to see Command Mission get remade with modern upgrades and innovative turn-based combat system in mind. I know the game was met with mixed critic reviews, but it at least sold well to be a cult fan favorite. It doesn't hurt to give cult fan favorites a remake because sales matter more than review scores.

Mega Man X: Command Mission came out on the classics catalog on the PS4 and PS5 because of the Mega Man X Legacy Collections and hopefully the Lord of the Rings: The Third Age will follow suit soon to go toe-to-toe with Mega Man X: Command Mission like it did back in the day. I'll even do better than the last time I played it by equipping stronger gear and levelling up the party just enough to level the playing field. Trust me, if you live through turn-based RPGs in the 6th generation era, I'm darn sure you'll know what I'm talking about.

And one turn-based RPG being Legends of Starkadia is basically Super Mario RPG. You can learn more about the game and how you can help make it happen by clicking the link to the post below.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2026/09/doom-turtle-needs-your-help.html

PlayStation Fans Deserve Better Than This...

Wow... just wow. I have been playing Mega Man X: Command Mission for few days straight and I have actually enjoyed it. I'll tell you more about my experience in a future post. Then a huge drama among PlayStation fans have came out of the blue and... fans have been fuming.

PlayStation became a brand back in 1994 when the first console came out first in Japan and 30 years later, the brand has celebrated its 30th anniversary with deals and merch. It became even more exciting because we have the revamped PlayStation Plus offering classic games released on PS1, PS2, PSP and PS3. However, as we get to the second half of 2026, things have took a turn for PlayStation.

First off, discs are being phased out for games that release in 2028. This became the source of sparking backlash on all sides. Overtime, it grew. A Change.org petition was created to reverse Sony's decision and a week long boycott was planned to be put into motion, but failed because Sony's decision to end disc production remains firm. The agreement shows that digital purchases actually offer licenses. When your account is banned, all of your digital purchases are gone. Now, I need to be clear that digital purchases on a Sony console should provide ownership like physical purchases, not revocable licenses. Sony ending discs in 2028 would be the last straw that they are seriously switching to Steam.

It was clearly dunked on. The event has been the source of controversy that we own everything. It's not theirs to take. We can assume that Sony could follow Microsoft's footsteps by doing a disc-to-digital feature. July 1 came, they announced that disc production will end for games that release in 2028 and beyond and heard nothing for six days amd made a post about the FlexStrike fight stick to ignore the backlash. In fact, the chat during the double-header State of Play was flooded with "No disc, no buy" and "Destiny 3" chants. Destiny 2 had to stop being supported as Bungie has to focus on Marathon.

If you were living under a rock, Guerilla was working on a live service game, Horizon: Hunters Gathering. This is a spin-off of the Horizon franchise that uses anime-style cel shading instead of realistic depictions the mainline games use. The game had a playtest and... whew. Negative feedback went all over the place that the entire development has been rebooted and left in the dust for quite some time. Now, if Hunters Gathering has been rebooted, they are starting all over and hopefully make it any less of a live service game since we noticed that live service games aren't sustainable as we thought. That's how Concord failed that it had to be shut down after its short-term development along with the studio.

It's also how 2XKO flopped despite all of the positive buzz. The team was laid off weeks after launch and six months later, active development ends, halting my opportunity to see Riven, Sett and anyone else in a giant pile of characters just itching to be in the roster. This had left us with the only tag fighter left to support, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. But luckily, a new patch for Marvel Tokon is in development to remedy most of the major issues in the PC version that became the source of having mixed reviews on PC.

It became a de facto shortcoming for the gaming industry, with the exception, of course, of the ones that are still sustainable for years, whether it's PC only games like League of Legends, World of Warcraft or CSGO to console games like Valorant and even Marvel Rivals. Even Overwatch. Overwatch, of all games, remains sustainable after dropping the 2 from the title and keeping it free-to-play under the Overwatch name and shows zero signs of dying. I think the reasoning for Overwatch's sustained retention is because the Overwatch team is actually small from the start. They knew that smaller and leaner teams that work on live service games have the tendency to establish an overkill player engagement at launch by developing games the right way without making any bad choices that spark backlash.

Here's the thing. Look at Brawlhalla. This game became a success to have future content for years to come because it was developed by a smaller team from the start. Now, imagine if 2XKO was developed by a smaller team from the start. When it releases, its player engagement becomes high to overkill and would show no signs of laying off some of the team. This makes it a vendetta to larger teams that had to be shrunk weeks after release.

Speaking of a vendetta, this brings me to my next point, Hideo Kojima. Kojima is a Japanese video game writer. He was with Konami on that time when he was working on the Metal Gear franchise. He left Konami to form his own studio, Kojima Productions. You know that they are the developers of the Death Stranding series, with Kojima being the head of the team. But what does a vendetta have anything to do with Kojima? 

Well, Kojima has a new single-player game in the works, Physint. It is supposed to be like a spiritual successor to Metal Gear Solid since it has a Tactical Espionage Action label and was supposed to be a PS5 exclusive. Unfortunately, Physint is going to Xbox as Kojima left Sony for Microsoft. This is due to Sony dropping the ball. They pulled funding from Kojima, been ballooning budgets, missing deadlines and spent time funding on a live service game like Concord. We already knew that live service games aren't as sustainable as we once thought, so why fund Concord? They should've kept the funding on Kojima instead of funding Concord.

Fans were set ablaze that Sony's fumbles allowed Kojima to shift the development of Physint to Xbox. This darning news really sets the drama about the situation surrounding Kojima. Here's the Kojima clip of a Mightykeef skit about being a PlayStation fan in 2026.

Now, I had to edit the clip to mute inappropriate words so that we can keep this post family friendly for everyone to read.

Kojima Productions has issued a statement saying that the studio is still in good health and still has ties with PlayStation despite losing the project to Xbox. Kojima working with Xbox must have unlocked multimedia forms, but the game is still in early development. Does this mean Physint is gonna be an Xbox exclusive? Absolutely not. Its PlayStation release is still likely.

If Sony is going all-digital, follow Xbox's footsteps by doing a disc-to-digital conversion feature. Also, funding should've remained intact with Kojima and shouldn't been funding on a dead live service game like Concord. That's my advice and rant that Sony needs to follow if they want to the backlash to pass and be alleviated.