Friday, August 28, 2026
Marvel Tokon - First Impressions and Thoughts
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Why Did 2XKO Flop at Launch?
March 2025 - 9th and 10th character reveals + Alpha Lab 2
April 2025 - 11th and 12th character reveals
July 2025 - 17th and 18th character reveals
September 2025 - 21st and 22nd character reveals + Closed Beta
Akali
Blitzcrank
Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Garen
Illaoi
Jinx
Katarina
Leona
Lux
Miss Fortune
Samira
Senna
Sett
Teemo
Thresh
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo
Ashe
Braum
Darius
Garen
Jinx
Kennen
Lux
Samira
Sett
Thresh
Warwick
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Illaoi
Katarina
Leona
Miss Fortune
Senna
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo
Ashe on the SEGA side = Skies of Arcadia
Darius on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Jinx on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Kennen on the SEGA side = Sonic the Hedgehog
Lux on the SEGA side = Space Channel 5
Samira on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Sett on the SEGA side = Streets of Rage
Thresh on the SEGA side = Mansion of Hidden Souls
Warwick on the SEGA side = Altered Beast
Blitzcrank on the Capcom side = Mega Man X
Caitlyn on the Capcom side = Alien vs. Predator (Arcade game)
Senna on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers
Yasuo on the Capcom side = Onimusha
- Two character reveals per month after Alpha Lab 2 starting in April up until Early Access
- 22 characters and 14 stages during Closed Beta
- 24 characters and 16 stages during Early Access
- All characters and stages in Early Access free by default
- Heavy reliability on League of Legends characters
- Cross-region support
- Arcane Bundle costs $50
- Materializing Katarina
- Custom lobbies
- All above points contribute to a high to overkill retention to continue active development for years to come
- 8th character reveal in June
- 9 characters and five stages during Closed Beta
- 11 characters and seven stages during Early Access
- First six characters and first four stages free by default
- Heavy reliability on Arcane characters
- Region-locked
- Arcane Bundle costs $100
- Scrapping Katarina
- Private lobbies
- All above points contribute to a low retention to shrink the team and cease active development
Thursday, August 20, 2026
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 announcement popped up and unfortunately, it is not looking good. Let's jump right in...
I'm back with a brand new post that has some bad and heartbreaking news. So, with fighting games rolling around like tumbleweeds in the wind this year, the fighting game community has been thriving, especially recently with the release of Marvel Tokon, Invincible VS, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game and SEGA vs. Capcom. 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 devlopment despite the buzz.
As we're approaching the time when Season 3 comes out, We were desperately waiting for Season 3 info to drop along with Lux's launch. Riot Games has posted a message on X, hoping it's Season 3 news and... can you guess what they announced? They announced that 2XKO is going to cease active development with the intention of leaving the servers online for the foreseeable future and refunding those who made purchases on the Starter Pack and KO Points before August 20th.
Wow. I don't know what to say about this matter. I just don't... Look, instead of ranting, I gotta remain calm in a Buena Vista mood about this while candidly sharing how disappointed I am after seeing this devastating and bitter news that just hit me.
Alpha Lab 1 came out on PC and console and during the course, feedback went all over the place. Then Alpha Lab 2 became a disapointingly short playtest as Riot was working on the infrastructure to get the game prepared for Closed Beta as the first step of rolling out the game to everyone with giving those who playtested a guaranteed access to the game. Then Early Access launched exclusively on PC and a lot of players were itching to play the game on console and TOs were eager to set up the PS5 versions on offline tournaments. The console sneak peek video has made 9.8 million views on YouTube. This should've reflected as player engagement.
And do you know what happened? Weeks after console launch, half of the 2XKO team was laid off, believing that momentum has not reached the level needed for sustainability. Then they were going to remain committed to developing 2XKO and gave us a sneak peak at Akali and Senna. Six months later, active development on 2XKO is going to end due to low player retention.
The thing is, Riot looks at the League of Legends characters and said, "Hey, we should start bringing League of Legends characters to 2XKO." And do you know what happened after the console sneak peek? They turned around and confirmed yet another Arcane character that was Caitlyn Kiramman. Look, I don't want to put a slant on Arcane or Caitlyn. I liked Arcane. Caitlyn is the character I wanted because of Vi and the fact that I wanted to find out how she would perform in 2XKO. But the roster being heavy on Arcane characters contributed to its low player retention at launch.
I can't believe Riot sat there and confirmed Caitlyn over Leona, Lulu, Gangplank, Miss Fortune, Garen, Katarina, Sona, Vayne, Graves or a treasure trove of legendary characters and they decided to do that with the Sheriff of Piltover? Again, no slant to Arcane. If you hadn't watched it, you should. Then eight months later, Riot's just like, "Well, we tried, so we have no choice to cease active development and go back to the drawing board." I seriously don't understand why that Caitlyn, of all characters, had to be confirmed.
Other than Vi and Jinx in their Arcane model, this comes after the announcement of bringing League of Legends characters to Fortnite to be used as skins, starting with Ahri. There are literally just a lot of characters just begging to be in the roster. But that will never happen since that level of retention couldn't cover rising costs that doing another year would cost Riot at the rate of retention, so they have no choice but to cease active development as a responsible choice, meaning that there will be no more new characters or stages.
Skullgirls had a low player retention, but the game had continued active development regardless because Autumn Games is the holder of the Skullgirls IP, not developers that Autumn worked with and the publisher made that happen. The same went for Rivals of Aether 2. We're getting more characters in that game and devs don't rely on profits because Aether Studios is the publisher that owned all rights to the game and they made it happen in the first place. This shows that indie companies never relied on profits or had a safety net.
Ahri
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Samira
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo
Final Capcom side:
Akali
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Lux
Senna
Thresh
Warwick
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
Vi on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Yasuo on the SEGA side = Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo
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 = Devil May Cry
Thresh on the Capcom side = Ghosts n' Goblins
Warwick on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers
Here are the final standings for the SEGA and Capcom sides and the key points. All of this have been finalized as 2XKO is going to cease active development in December because of the fact that the game couldn't have a sufficient player engagement. It has been a Maggie and the Ferocious Beast mess of things that weren't even half-baked because 2XKO not having a sufficient player engagement contributes to sunsetting active development despite early buzz. For that, I am deleting the post that talks about the wanted future characters and mentions about it on certain posts.
https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2026/07/new-sega-vs-capcom-info-revealed.html
-Post coming soon-
Sunday, August 16, 2026
Joe's Monologues - 8/16/26
I'm back with a brand new Joe's Monologues that I felt passionate about doing. We are in the second half of 2026 and approaching autumn, the time when everything cools down and the forests change their color of the leaves to yellow and orange and they fall down to the ground on the way to winter. Let's get into the post.
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling
Let's kick it off with talking about something I did not do during my main playthrough on Bug Fables. On stream, I had to do something that I haven't done on my main playthrough in the first place. That is befriending Chompy. It is an optional companion not part of the main story, but it's a side quest. On stream, I have befriended Chompy and got the Tardigrade Shield. These are the two things I have not covered in my main playthrough. If I have befriended Chompy and acquired the Tardigrade Shield in the first place, then maybe I wouldn't have any problem beating the Everlasting King.
I am on the verge of uploading the rest of my Bug Fables Let's Play and I am closer to uploading every one of them. I also have planned to record and upload shorts in regards to this game on my gaming channel where gameplay shorts are being uploaded on it. I have uploaded one so far, but there are a lot more I have planned. Also, I'm about to upload a video that you'll never believe...
As a reward for beating the game a while back, I have submitted my logo request for this game to Broken Saw. Guess what? My request has been fulfilled. Let's take a look at the video covering the logos.
SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level:
4CYDE Studios has released their fangame and I am amazed by all of their work they have done. But it was a terrible release because there are a few bugs like the one bug where Sakura Shinguji would not flinch when taking damage, and summon her mech like crazy. I have captured all of that and uploaded a short covering that on my gaming channel. Upon upload, it went viral despite not having my mic on. Thankfully, the bug has been fixed as they pushed out a hotfix before working on the next update that is certainly to have two new characters as you're seeing the slots with a question mark on it on the character select screen to indicate that they are coming soon.
Since Beat temporarily replaces Akira Yuki, it's likely that he's gonna return to the game in the next major update. The one on the Capcom side is unknown. It is only a matter of time before Season 1 gets into its post-Alpha glory. That's the Alpha phase they were referring to.
As you beat Arcade Mode, "To Be Continued..." appears. But what does it apply to? What does that exactly mean? Well, the game currently has 10 characters and will have more characters to come during the course of Season 1.
Here are the voice actors that voiced the respective characters. On the list, there are 12 of them. But something's not right. If we look at the bottom of the SEGA side of the cast, we can see that Sapphire is being credited for voicing Honey from Fighting Vipers, yet she is not even in the game yet. Why is it on there?
Well, a while back, 4CYDE Studios was looking for a voice actress to voice Honey for the main menu screen. Sapphire applied to be Honey's voice actress for the main menu screen. That's why it's on there. Ladies and gentlemen, we might be experiencing an indication that Honey from Fighting Vipers is confirmed to also be a playable character, which has me very excited for this.
Update Regarding Sony Ending Discs:
After Sony made and update that they are going to stop producing PlayStation discs for games that release in 2028 and onwards, it was met with record backlash, with the Change.org petition having over 500,000 signatures, the planned blackout boycott and multiple lawsuits. Then they posted after six days with the fighting stick, ignoring backlash like they are going to forget about the backlash-worthy announcement they made. The lawsuit against Sony is going strong. Even Stop Killing Games is joining the rebellion against Sony's all-digital future. However, the CFO said that there is a majority of digital purchases in Q1 of this and their decision is final.
However, a former Square Enix executive named Jacob Navok said that PlayStation culling discs is gonna make the PlayStation Store cheaper. Wait, what? I actually agree with this, but what's the point of people getting angry at Sony's decision to kill discs if it's gonna make the digital store cheaper?
What am I Going to Do Next:
What am I doing next? Well, there's an indie game that I am planning a Let's Play series on, which I can't reveal yet. There's a post that contains wanted posters for future 2XKO characters in the works and it's what I'll probably post next. There's also a post in the works that I want get something off my chest. I tied up most loose ends for the 2XKO livestream to couple with the Sonic Racing CrossWorlds livestream and put $30 on hold for when I get paid next month to buy Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls on Steam and have my initial team of Magik, Star-Lord, Ms. Marvel and Green Goblin in the full game. The regular story is that I made Magik as leader of the team and the truth lies a little more than that. You'll see what I'm talking about.
Conclusion:
Well, this one has a lot to go through. Before I end this post, I am going to share what am I gonna do when Sony culls discs for games releasing in 2028. After hearing from the former Square Enix executive stated that Sony ending discs in 2028 is gonna make digital purchases affordable, I am coming to a decision. I am remaining as a PlayStation fan. But on one condition. Sony must follow Xbox's footsteps by having a disc-to-digital feature. It's the only way to win back players.













