The Gaming Industry Knows Better Than This...

Wow... just wow. I went digging on the internet and I came across something. Someone who has been accused of sexual harassment in the past is continuing to have a leverage in the game industry because somebody has given the dirtbag a second chance. Let's jump right in!

I am here with a post and well, the spire crumbled, the moon is made of cheese and Outworld has officially frozen over. Before I talk about what happened recently, I want to talk about one thing that I have enjoyed.

The Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls Open Beta became a blast. I even came up with a team that consists of Magik, Star-Lord, Ms. Marvel and Green Goblin and that's gonna be my initial team for when the full game launches. But it's probably gonna be on PC since not only PlayStation is ending discs for games that release in 2028 in a way to shift to an all-digital format, but not for games that release prior to 2028. PlayStation Plus is a bit more expensive now. That driven me to get the PC version since PC versions offer free online multiplayer and true ownership rather than revocable licenses. In fact, Valve has no monopoly at all. However, the PC version has some gameplay and performance issues during the Open Beta like the stuttering in logos.

The funny thing about this is that I made Magik the leader of my team because she is a combination of Es from Xblaze and BlazBlue, and Annie from Skullgirls. Seems like an uncanny creation, don't you think? I mean, there's no evidence of that.

Then when I was playing the Marvel Tokon Open Beta, I have came across something that shocked me. This is in regards to the situation in Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game, an Aquapazza-like fighting game that is developed by Gameplay Group International. You might know that they are the same developers that made Diesel Legacy: The Brazen Age. The PS5 and Steam versions are available to play, but the Switch 2 and Xbox versions are coming later. The Switch 2 version will release later on this year with the Standard Edition only. For the Xbox side of things, it has been delayed to September 3 due to unforseen circumstances.

Avatar Legends became the source of scrutiny earlier this month when Paramount Games confirmed that they found someone who is accused in the past working at Gameplay Group International as an individual contributor. Guess who Paramount found. Mike Zaimont. That is ridiculous. There's no way an accused individual like Mike Zaimont would have a future in the game industry after he destroyed Lab Zero with his refusal to leave the company, right? Well, I decided to go even deeper.

Lab Zero Games posted a joint statement saying that Mariel Cartwright, Francesca Esquenazi and Mike Zaimont have agreed to resolve the lawsuit relating to the events at Lab Zero in 2020. The lawsuit was aborted and Mike remains passionate about game development and looks forward to continuing to create new games and contribute to the community through Lab Zero. I just can't wrap my head around this! I thought Mike Zaimont is not supposed to have a future in the game industry! Not especially since he sexually harassed his fellow employees. But how is that even possible?! There is one person who is responsible of this. That person is Christine Christina Seeyle. What did she do? Let's get to something juicy.

Back in 2023, three years after Mike was accused of sexual harassment, Seeyle was pressed by PC Gamer about his work on Diesel Legacy. Do you know what Seeyle has done? She approved Mike Zaimont's continued involvement in the game industry and his employment and defended her decision, acknowledging the validity of past allegations and went on to say that he "wanted the opportunity to have the redemptive arc that's in so many stories they love." I just can't believe this... I just can't... Can you excuse my G-rated rant because there are a few words to express how shocked I am about this.

During the One More Once stream in 2020, Mike Zaimont has made an "I can't breathe" joke following the death of George Floyd and people has uninstalled Skullgirls in making calls to get it off Evo, until he apologized about making a much too soon joke. I understand what he meant by much too soon because he should've waited until the stream is over before making that sadistic joke. Then he sexually harassed the two gamer girls. But I don't want to put a slant on them because sexually harassing those who are not a part of the game industry is something I understand. Then he did that to his fellow employees! That caused his fellow employees to leave Lab Zero and establish Future Club in September. That's how extra stuff were scrapped for Indivisible.

Then Hidden Variable made a statement saying that they are no longer be working with Lab Zero Games and they plan to work with people who left Lab Zero to bring future Skullgirls content for years to come. In fact, Skullgirls stays alive because of the fact that a publisher like Autumn Games is the holder of the Skullgirls IP, which is a safe method. And despite the allegations, Mike Zaimont was involved in the development of the rollback netcode patch for Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core Plus and was suspended from it.

Three years later, do you know what happened? Christine Christina Seeyle given that blasted dirtbag a second chance in the game industry for redemption and defended her decision to do so! No wonder he is involved and employed in the development of Avatar Legends! How dare she use a redemption stick on a person who was accused of sexual harassment in the past! She should know that those who are accused of sexual harassment and destroyed the company SHOULD NOT be given a second chance at the game industry, period! This is bull! I can't believe this! That woman defended her decision to give a garbage person a second chance in the industry, like we're gonna forget about the part where he sexually harassed his fellow employees at Lab Zero? This is some messed up garbage fest right there!

You can compare and contrast the part where Mike Zaimont sexually harassed his fellow employees and the part where Joey Cuellar, former Evo president, was exposed a pedophile after he paid young boys tokens to take off their clothes and jump in water hazard pools in the miniature golf joint and Mikey $20 to show his... donkey in the restroom. Hearing Mikey's allegations made players and supporters to withdraw from Evo Online in solidarity with those who has spoken out against abuse, like MANE6, NetherRealm Studios, Capcom and Bandai Namco. It shows that pedophiles are way worse than those who conducted sexual harassment towards their fellow employees since pedophiles don't deserve a second chance that they are more dangerous. Oh yeah! Joey Cuellar is way worse than Mike Zaimont!

I can't believe Seeyle defended her decision to give an accused individual like Mike Zaimont a second chance despite allegations of sexual harassment! It was a horrible move to make! I just don't understand why Seeyle given the sexual harasser a second chance in the game industry. This is the unforseen circumstances Gameplay Group International was referring to. People are returning this game and the game's Xbox release had to be delayed just hours before release because they found out that Mike Zaimont, of all people, is involved in the development of Avatar Legends. They are not playing this game on his behalf. Not even me.

Seriously, how could she defend her decision to give that garbage person a second chance in the game industry after being pressed by PC Gamer? I know he didn't abuse a single minor like Joey Cuellar did, but still. Where is her freaking honor? I mean, there are a lot of people who are never ousted from the industry like Isaiah Turner, Tom Cannon, Seth Killian and any of the other treasure trove of virtuous individuals that never sexually harassed anyone, but she turned around and employed that dirtbag like Mike Zaimont to work on Diesel Legacy? God!

I gotta calm down because that part I came across got me mad. I am basically passionate about this situation. Seeyle is responsible of giving Michael Zaimont a second chance and defending her decision. People are returning this game and/or not playing it on his behalf. I refuse to support that dirtbag. I don't care he is not as bad as Joey Cuellar. However, I do have a scintilla of interest in getting Avatar Legends. It's three reasons.

One is because of being an Aquapazza-like fighting game. I played Aquapazza before. It was a really niche game for the PS3 with characters from the Aquaplus visual novels and I loved it. Avatar Legends became an Aquapazza-like fighting game in terms of gameplay and selecting playable and assist characters.

The second reason is an opportunity to play this game on the behalf of people who are never accused. Since this game is making a first appearance on Evo France like Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is, they will be playing it there, but not on Mike's behalf.

The third reason is to add this game and Marvel Tokon to my streaming arsenal with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and 2XKO. I am investing in an Ethernet cord to provide a lagless online experience so that I can play my matches well in these games without experiencing any lag with the exception of the lag from the ISP. See, I realized why I kept on experiencing the error screen in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds because I was using Wi-Fi and investing in an Ethernet cord remedies that. I didn't sign up for the Avatar Legends Closed Beta, but I did sign up for the Marvel Tokon Betas. The Open Beta was a blast that I even get to have my team of Magik, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord and Green Goblin.

The point is... *sigh* they need to understand that those who are alleged of sexual harassment and killed the studio should not be redeemed. When I said that if a player like... I don't know... Hikari could win back to back Evo titles in a row, then anything was possible, I didn't mean Mike Zaimont showing his face in the game industry again, which he shouldn't. Not after he killed Indivisible with his refusal to leave Lab Zero that made everyone left to form Future Club.

NEW SEGA vs. Capcom Info Revealed!

The very first livestream for SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level went live and we have gotten a lot of info in regards to the passion project, including what has made me very excited. *drinks water* Let's jump right in.

I'm here with a new SEGA vs. Capcom post that has some great news for us SEGA and Capcom fans. Yesterday, I have watched the gameplay livestream and the info they given us during the livestream made me very hyped. Before I get to them, there is one thing that I need to explain.

Who is 4Cyde Studios? They are a small team behind the fangame. Currently, there are two people consisting of Madxruler and Fare'n'Hite, with Fare'n'Hite being the composer and Madxruler being the developer. There are two for now, but they will have more people to join. The more people, the better.

Now we can dive into the main meat of the post. First off, the characters department. A lot of characters have been confirmed to have a guaranteed playable debut. But I want to talk about which characters that interest me. First off, NiGHTS. The team has confirmed that NiGHTS is guaranteed to be in the roster. This brought me to say that NiGHTS would be amazing. He became a guest character in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. Our dream jester never appeared in a fighting game, so NiGHTS coming to SEGA vs. Capcom is an impressive deal to me that they don't have a shortage of characters to confirm.

Not only NiGHTS is confirmed to be a playable character because Ulala from Space Channel 5 is also confirmed to be playable right off the bat. Ulala would be dope as heck in SEGA vs. Capcom. What is cool is that since she is into music, landing a hit on her opponent can make music. I believe that delivering Ulala to SEGA vs. Capcom would literally be the best thing that 4Cyde Studios can do. Yes, I can hear people say, "Who will be an Ulala-like in 2XKO?" I'll get to that later.

Fare'n'Hite is the composer of the passion project. He straight up confirmed that there will be character themes for each character. However, they are gonna be in Season 2 as stage themes will come out in Season 1. This is something that has me very excited. Marvel vs. Capcom 1 and 3 have character themes and so will SEGA vs. Capcom. This brings me to ask this question. How will character themes work in SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level? There are three ways.

1. Through the setting that switches between stage and character themes. When set to character themes, it plays the character's theme for the character on the either side and the character theme for the character that comes in after the death of their teammate.
2. Taking the chapter from 2XKO's playbook. The stage theme plays during the first round and the character theme plays in subsequent rounds after a character KOs the last standing opponent, but plays the stage theme on subsequent rounds after a timeout.
3. Choosing a song.

This is important to remember that this can go only one way.

And finally, Special Partners. A while back, they confirmed that Special Partners will be brought to SEGA vs. Capcom at some point. They are NPCs that have assists and will be similar to the ones in Marvel vs. Capcom 1, and not just Marvel vs. Capcom 1, but also Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax and the Kameo system in Mortal Kombat 1.

See, 4Cyde Studios has a bevy, I mean, a bevy of characters just straight up confirmed to be in SEGA vs. Capcom for quite some time now and it's working. Zero, Jon Talbain, Ristar and even B.D. Joe have been confirmed, with favorites like NiGHTS, Ulala, Shadow the Hedgehog and Falcon from Power Stone to be coming to the game in the future. I have countless testimonies telling me that people would like to see Crash Bandicoot get added as a guest star, but that will never be the case. But I do know that since they have a bevy of characters confirmed, I would like to see Hugh and Diana from Pragmata get added to the roster. But as sort of a Ferra/Torr-like to make Diana sit on Hugh in game, not as separate characters.

If this game gets a lot of hype and love it deserves, maybe we put this game at a future Evo Vegas event like how it was featured at Combo Breaker last year as a part of the Mystery Game Tournament. Not as a main game, but as a part of the side tournament since SEGA vs. Capcom is a fanmade fighting game.

This oddities you saw in the gameplay livestream like the outdated screens that take place at BETA 2.75 will not be present in the final build as the livestream took place in a WIP build. That's why Beat was not in there. But what things that will be in the final build are the new in-game UI and new soundtracks that will release upon the launch of Season 1, including the new character select theme that I found actually more catchier than the other one that it sets the mood for the SEGA and Capcom universes. If the game comes out on my 32nd birthday, it's gonna be a birthday present for me. I have a birthday livestream planned and coming soon.

Do you know what I want in SEGA vs. Capcom? Duo Play. Duo Play is essentially a feature in 2XKO that involves playing as a duo by both players on the same team. Teammates have their own character to pick. It pretty much lives up to being played best as a duo. Duo Play in SEGA vs. Capcom sounds like an impressive feature to me. We do have a 4-player game mode, Cross Fever, but we can change that to being 1-4 players to apply to wanting Duo Play implemented in SEGA vs. Capcom in most game modes, including online modes.

Now let's talk about the only interesting thing. That is an Ulala-like in 2XKO. Like, we know that Lux, Samira, Kennen and Sett will be Ingrid, Dante, Sonic and Axel Stone-likes in 2XKO, so there is one character in League of Legends that could potentially be an Ulala-like in 2XKO since Ulala is straight up confirmed. And that is Sona. She is, in fact, a musician character. There is a lot more to talk about here that I won't fit into this post. But League of Legends never, in fact, had a Zaun character who uses rollerblades and graffiti spray cans as weapons. Someone that could be a Beat-like in 2XKO.

As I said before, a post that contains a list of 25 wanted characters for planned new 2XKO characters of 2027-2030 is in the works. I'm working on making wanted posters for future characters, so if the post is up, you can click the link below.

-Post coming soon-

And since SEGA vs. Capcom in its full-fledged glory is getting closer to releasing this month, it will definetely tide us over for Luxanna Crownguard's brilliant entrance in 2XKO and that's something we can look forward to. And not just Lux, but Samira as well. And during full release, this game can learn from the things 2XKO has done. If you're interested in learning more about Lux and Samira's launch in 2XKO and its nuances and the things that SEGA vs. Capcom can learn from 2XKO, here are the links to the posts below.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2026/07/2xko-2026-characters-theory-update-4.html

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2026/01/what-sega-vs-capcom-can-learn-from-2xko.html

PlayStation is Going All Digital

We have some breaking news that PlayStation is undergoing a shift to all digital starting in 2028, meaning that new games that release beyond the date will be all digital while games that were released prior to the date will still carry physical discs. This is not a joke or a rumor. PlayStation is officially ditching discs and going all digital. Let's... jump right in?

I'm back a new post that left me quite shocked. Today, gaming has been having a lot of challenges, especially most recently with the gaming industry. With the PS6 and Project Helix on their way, everyone is petitioning for these systems to be priced reasonably. And there is a piece of news that shocked us.

PlayStation has announced that starting in 2028, they are going to cease production on physical discs and focus on releasing new games beyond the point digitally. This comes from the market shift and players making an approach on doing digital purchases, indicating that physical copies will have digital codes inside the cases. Then they went silent for six days and made a post again about the FlexStrike wireless stick, ignoring widespread backlash. This news was met with mixed reactions, with those hailing it as the end of an era for gaming and those that are lazy to put in discs hailed it as an agreeable decision that they prefer to buy them digitally since they can't break digital and those outraged to put #NoDiscNoBuy on their posts.

Why they are doing this is because the PS6 will not have a disc drive at launch. But they will have a separate disc drive to play previous gen games on disc, the ones that release prior to 2028. People are willing to treasure their physical games forever since PlayStation is doing away with disc production starting in 2028. One person believed that putting game discs on a shelf is not the future of gaming. They read the Arabic writing on the wall and said it's time to stop disc production and go all digital, so a Change.org petition was created to urge PlayStation to change their minds and continue producing discs for the foreseeable future.

This backlash-worthy news is tantamount with the physical copies of GTA VI just having a code that gives players access to the game. After Rockstar has announced a cover art for the game that fits well with the fictional setting of Leonida where GTA VI will take place at, pre-orders went live and the physical copies' lack of discs is gonna be a disaster for retailers that are planning to boycott the game until Rockstar starts printing discs for physical copies. This doesn't just apply to AAA titles, but indies as well. This just tells me that Sony is absolutely tone-deaf, acting like children while sticking their fingers in their ears and screaming, "I'm not listening!" as the petition has hit over 150,000 signatures.

The only bad thing about PlayStation undergoing a shift to going all-digital is that it's gonna be a total nightmare for retailers since digital purchases offer revocable licenses, not ownership. Ending support for discs comes with something even worse than that. Our accounts will be deleted after three years of inactivity. This is the stupidest and the most retarded agreement Sony has ever enforced. The fact that PlayStation ending disc support in 2028 and deleting our accounts after three years of inactivity should be a crime against humanity and nature of gaming themselves. Xbox and Nintendo never do this. The stupid decisions Sony had made; they became backlash-worthy. It was worse than when Pokemon in their possession were wiped out from Pokemon Home after people pivoted to the Switch 2.

Another problem with Sony's disc-free future is that PS5 games that are in an external storage device can't be played, but PS4 games in an external storage device can be played. This is Sony's attempt to have a monopoly over the gaming market. If Sony keeps ignoring to the fierce backlash, if players are going to buy games digitally, they are seriously switching over to Steam since digital purchases on Steam provide ownership rather than revocable licenses and Steam games are also playable through the external hard drive. When they made an announcement to end physical media on 2028, they went silent. Then they made a post about the FlexStrike wireless stick, ignoring backlash, like nothing happened.

In other news, not only PlayStation is ending physical media. They announced that they will also be closing the PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita in select markets this year and the rest of the markets next year as they focus their support on modern consoles since the PS3 is deemed a retro console like the Xbox 360 and the Wii despite it being a tough nut to crack because of the notorious Cell processor that prevented modern consoles from ever having full backwards compatibility. But who needs full backwards compatibility when we have emulation? This is something that I want to talk about in the future post to apply to what can pique my interest.

Now, this seals the deal. I agree with the backlash against Sony's decision to stop producing discs in 2028. I'll be taking my digital purchases on Steam if they don't listen to the mass backlash.

And Sony, if you're going all digital, please don't take away our ownership rights at least. Digital purchases should at least provide ownership like physical purchases do, not revocable licenses. Heck, might as well follow Xbox's footsteps by having a disc-to-digital feature and they're keeping discs relevant and not killing them. Also, PLEASE remove the agreement regarding deleting our accounts after three years of inactivity from the EULA. I don't care if three years is a long time. It is a very dumb agreement to make gamers mad. That's all I beg of you, Sony. Please listen to the mass backlash or you'll be facing a major boycott from players that are shifting to Steam until you do.

2XKO 2026 Characters Theory (UPDATE 4)

The final two remaining characters of 2026 have been unveiled at Evo and both of them are the characters I wanted, but not the ones I theorized in the initial post. Let's jump right in!

Boy howdy, the announcement at Evo became a quite a bombshell. I originally thought that we won't be able to get something special after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Vegas, but we actually got something special. Anyway, let's get to the main meat and the knitty gritty of the final update regarding my theory of who will be the 2026 characters coming to 2XKO.

Now, on the previous post, I originally said Lucian is likely to be the fifth and penultimate character of 2026 and Katarina would be the final character of the year to make it synonymous to Spyro: A Realm Beyond. Well, guess what? It is officially none of them. See, I understand that when people expect to see Katarina on every reveal trailer, they get let down and disappointed every single time. Now, she might be a Year 2 character, but in terms of expecting Katarina being tantamount as expecting Sora from Kingdom Hearts, don't get your hopes up.

Riot has posted a trailer revealing the remaining two Year 1 characters after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo and they are actually the characters in my wish list. Who are the last two Year 1 characters? Let's roll the trailer and find out who they are.

She looks peak and broken. Lux, the Lady of Luminosity and Samira, the Desert Rose, have been officially revealed as the last two Year 1 2XKO characters of 2026. It's time for the breakdown.

As you watched the trailer, Lux swings her two-sided baton, comes with a Demacia-themed stage and has an intro dialogue with Senna. For any eagle-eyed fans who are watching the trailer, the stage has statues of Galio and Kayle in the background. Looking at her short gameplay, Lux could be the Ingrid of 2XKO and this gets me very excited. Lux's full trailer is coming out in Fall 2026, meaning that her launch is a week after her full trailer drops, just in time for Evo France. At the end of the trailer, Lux will not be the only upcoming character because Samira, the Desert Rose, is also revealed to be the final Year 1 character.

Now let's go over the things on why am I excited for both characters. I have several reasons specifically for Lux and Samira, a general reason and one concern.

Very First Demacia Character:

2XKO never had a Demacian character yet. League of Legends' commemoration of Demacia is going strong so far and the story is developing. I wanted a Demacian to be in the roster and it's working. Lux will be the first Demacian to ever come to 2XKO, and it's a developing story to honor League of Legends' Demacia Rising event.

Setting the Stage for Garen and Other Demacia Champions:

Since Luxanna Crownguard will be the very first Demacia Champion to ever come to 2XKO with a Demacia-themed stage to honor League of Legends' Demacia Rising event, a precedent has spoken. Garen Crownguard is now likely to have more of a chance to potentially make his debut to 2XKO with his daughter in the future, and so are a few others like Vayne, Sona, Shyvana, Galio, Quinn, Kayle and even Locke, who is the most recent Demacian character. I have some countless testimonies telling me that Tianna Crownguard might potentially be a playable character in League of Legends.

Filling in the Lines:

If you don't know what do I mean by this, if you scroll down on the League of Legends homepage, you'll see the Classes section of the homepage that says Choose Your Champion. As you click on a class symbol, it shows the character as an example of a certain class. Akali is an example of an Assassin character, Yasuo is an example of a Fighter character, Jinx is an example of a Marksman character, Thresh is an example of a Support character and Lux is an example of a Mage character. And when you click on a Tank symbol, it displays Leona as an example of a Tank character.

I do not think that this is a simple coincidence. Leona displaying on the site when clicking on the Tank symbol suggests that the Radiant Dawn is likely to come to 2XKO as the very first Targonian character to come with a Targon-themed stage, which would be nice because I love to see Leona in 2XKO, but as a full-fledged playable character since she is in the background of Kiramman Yacht with other characters in their Pool Party skins. This suggests that the characters in the background other than Ahri and Caitlyn could mean that they could potentially become playable characters, making fans of League of Legends and fighting games swoon and lose their minds.

Design Update:

As the trailer unfolds, someone pops up and I was like, "Who is that teaming up with Senna?" It is clearly Lux, but in her 2XKO design. Notice that she is wearing her boots and her royal dress of the Crownguard family in the medieval times? This shows that Lux's design in 2XKO is completely different than her League of Legends design, and that's the point of this. Champions feature visual adjustments to better fit the fighting game environment.

Second Noxus Character:

As I have said, during her childhood, Samira was once a Shurima character until she hails to earn her true calling in Noxus to become a stylish daredevil with her stylish moves accompanied by her twin pistols and a blade, deeming her a Noxian. Darius won't be the only Noxian in the roster because we're getting the second Noxian being Samira. You know, I woudn't be shocked if we are eventually gettng a Shuriman turned Noxian daredevil. I mean, Samira was a Shuriman in her childhood.

A Dante-Like in 2XKO?:

When I was watching 2XKO Pools at Evo 2026, the commentators had a conversation about a female character in League of Legends that could be a Dante-like in 2XKO, and it's working. We are officially getting a Dante-like in 2XKO, so who is gonna have Dante's playbook in 2XKO? Samira. She is a stylish daredevil in Noxus with her twin pistols and a blade to indicating her a Dante-like, hence "stylish". This is the buzz that I have been hearing on social media and from the commentators.

The 17th Character:

The excitement focuses on 2XKO's character select screen.

If you look at the current placement that holds up to 16 characters, there are currently 15 characters in the roster. We are one character away from filling out the bottom right row. The 16th character that will fill out the bottom right row is Lux. Having 17 characters this year gives us an opportunity to find out how they would manipulate the selection of characters to pave the way for the 17th character that would be Samira. But how would they do it? Well, there are two ways to do it. I went to MS Paint and did two re-enactments on how will the devs manipulate the selection of characters to make enough room for the 17th character and beyond.

For the first method, I am going to compare and contrast with the character select screen in Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

The select screen has three rows and 59 character portraits on it. I'm using this as a re-enactment on how will they manipulate the selection to pave the way for Samira and beyond.

How will they do it is that they shorten the height and the width of the character portraits to have a third row in and narrow the random selection. This method uses Tekken Tag 2's style of a selection of characters that has 48 portraits.

For the second method, let's compare with the old and unpolished character select screen from Alpha Lab 1.

If they go for this method to manipulate the character selecion, they can keep the form, but narrow the portraits and the random selection. This one doubles the number of portraits to 32, which I think this method can be done first before doing the Tekken Tag 2-style placement. This, in fact, shows on the cabinet screen during the part where they choose their characters, so I think this what the selection of characters SHOULD actually look like when Samira releases.

More Girls?!:

Yes, 2XKO is getting more girls as the last two Year 1 characters are both female characters. The funny thing about this is that when I was watching the Father and Son Beatdown covering SEGA vs. Capcom, Deen said it's gonna have four more girls at the end of the video. That one made me laugh. But there are actually three more girls. Vyse is the only male character on the docket.

I know that there are some people that fighting games don't need more female characters, but the majority of the FGC do. Heck, I want a fighting game to have more female characters and 2XKO is one of them to tell you that I don't want to be a sexist, like those who were critical about an upcoming God of War featuring a female protagonist. Year 1 has, in fact, five female characters and one male character. There is an excellent chance for the roster to have more female characters than male characters when Samira launches.

Double-Header Release:

This has to be my concern because if the remaining two characters were released simultaneously, the 16-character roster wouldn't be given a chance. We were supposed to have a 14-character roster, but Thresh's release had to coincide with Senna's release to give the 15-character roster a chance to honor the lore that surrounds the part where Thresh traps Senna in his lantern until she broke out of it to gain powers of the Black Mist.

This question comes to mind. If Lux and Samira are coming to 2XKO, are they releasing simultaneously? No, I don't think they are. Riot wants to release a character and make them legal before each Major event in the Competitive Series. Caitlyn came out before Frosty Faustings, Akali came out before Evo Japan, Senna and Thresh came out before Evo Vegas, Lux will come out before Evo France, and Samira will come out before Battle Coliseum. The correlation between five Major events and six new characters and the lore are how we had to experience a double-header release.

However, Lux and Samira coming to 2XKO isn't the only thing I'm very excited for because there's another thing that I am also quite excited for. A new character beyond the first ten has been revealed at end of the Sakura Shinguji trailer for SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level. That is Beat from Jet Set Radio.

That's right, Beat is officially coming to SEGA vs. Capcom as the 11th character to commemorate Jet Set Radio's 26th Anniversary. He is in fact shown on the art to indicate that he has been confirmed and in development for quite some time now. Our rollerblading lad is gonna step into the roster at launch while Akira Yuki from Virtua Fighter is being reworked and will be returning in a post-launch update with the release of the confirmed 12th character that is likely a Capcom character. 4Cyde Studios is having their first ever gameplay livestream for SEGA vs. Capcom on July 9th. Be sure to catch the livestream if you're interested.

If you're eager to try out Demacia's luminous angel, well, I have good news for you. Since it's currently July, SEGA vs. Capcom is nearing its full-fledged release with the Season 1 launch. It is the perfect time and opportunity to play SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level in its full-fledged level to tide us over for Lux's release.

Instead of ending this post empty-handed, to make us hyped about both SEGA vs. Capcom's full-fledged launch in July and Lux's launch in 2XKO in fall, let's take a look at where the SEGA and Capcom sides and the key points will stand now that Lux and Samira are revealed at Evo after Top 8. Again, this is just for creativity and imagination, so please don't lawsuit me for defamation.

Characters so far:

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

I'm gonna take the 17-character roster and divide it into the SEGA and Capcom sides across the board and state the key points this roster will come with. Since this year is seeing 17 characters, the Capcom side will be short by one character on the SEGA side until we get an 18th character. Let's divide the roster. As usual, we'll start with the SEGA side.

Samira is initially introduced, Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo remain. The SEGA side puts Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Samira, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo.

Lux is initially introduced, Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Senna, Thresh and Warwick remain. That puts Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Lux, Senna, Thresh and Warwick on the Capcom side.

SEGA side:

Ahri
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Samira
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo

Capcom side:

Akali
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Lux
Senna
Thresh
Warwick

Key points:

Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Blitzcrank on the SEGA side = Vectorman
Caitlyn on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
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

Now, with no fighting game goggles on, no bias. Looking at the info, it is really developing and all coming together as all six new characters have been revealed.

It sucks that we will not get to see Katarina make it to the light of day this year, but thankfully, Samira is coming to 2XKO as the second Noxian though. Arucelli stated that she will be in a future roster while she submitted her concept art to the designers and it's exactly like that. Does this mean that our red-haired assassin will never make it to the light of day? Absolutely not. See, Katarina is still planned, so just have faith in Riot and keep believing in our red-haired assassin until she is materialized.

It takes four updates, but we have reached the ends of my predictions on who will be the 2026 characters. Lux and Samira--they are the two characters that are not hypothetical, but they are the characters I wanted anyway, along with previous characters, especially Caitlyn. Sure, she may be an Arcane character, but Vi is the number one reason why I wanted Caitlyn to be in 2XKO so that people, including yours truly, would see Piltover's Finest--the mighty cops of Piltover in a duo--something that Wawa plays as. But did you hear the intro dialogues that involve Vi calling Caitlyn cupcake? This is a callback to Arcane with a big LMAO.

That said, instead of listing the honorable mentions and the top five characters that could potentially be 2027's new characters, I am working on a post that lists the wanted characters. It's gonna be not 10 wanted characters for planned characters of 2027, but 25 wanted characters for planned characters of the 2027-2030 timeframe. That's right, 25 wanted characters. I went to the League of Legends page and used Bandicam to screencap over 40 Champion cards. I can't reveal the 25 characters to you just yet, but I am planning a livestream that has the coverage of turning the character cards into wanted posters. Not all of them, but just some of them. If the post is up, you can click the link below.

-Post coming soon-

Joe's Monologues - 6/19/2026

Hello, everyone. I'm back from my old stomping grounds with a new entry of Joe's Monologues. I said that the series would return, so here it is. Let's take a dive into the series.

Comfort Stream Test Complete:

Right off the bat, I'm gonna talk about the update regarding my comfortability. I did a short stream that serves as a test run on how long I can sit down on my gaming chair while streaming. The test is complete, thanks to my U-shaped cushion. It provides extreme comfortability that the cut out part offers little to no coccyx pain pressure. That was after using it on the airplane, which also turned out well, especially since the seats in it lack cushion. Thanks to my U-shaped cushion, it's gonna help my coccyx pain, especially on longer sessions.

Escape from Ever After:

I did a little bit of Escape from Ever After on stream while doing a comfort test. I went ahead and partaken on the 100-floor challenge. I stopped at level 30 as part of the test. I didn't bother doing an episode because it was just a test. There is an optional Little Red Riding Hood storybook that I plan to record, but it won't be until I beat the main story. It's my duty to find out if the CEO of Ever After Inc. is the mastermind of allowing the company to take over storybooks.

Evo 2026:

The biggest fighting game event of the summer is fast approaching as it's one week left before Evo opens its doors in Las Vegas. I am very excited to experience the action and find out what do they have in store for fighting games. As Evo is approaching, the crew is setting up booths and streaming equipment at the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Everything is coming together really nicely. The commentator lineup is up, but the streaming schedule and the Friday Showcase schedule are not yet up and they are the two things we can look out for.

See, Evo has always been the biggest fighting game tournament of the summer, known for tournaments, cosplays, booths, demos and reveals. I don't watch Evo just for the tournament action, but for reveals because I am anxious to see what do companies have in store for us in the FGC. I have a post that goes into detail about what was the staple for Evo for years in the works. It may be scrapped or planned.

What Happened During My Stay:

It feels good to be back home after my one week stay at my old stomping grounds. But it came with a cost. Recently, my cousin threw a tantrum for some reason. My aunt was celebrating her 90th birthday. It left her no longer fit to serve. I honor my aunt's time. I can't believe that I witnessed firsthand of a grown adult acting childish and throwing a tantrum. It's the first time I have ever experienced an adult acting childish right before my eyes. But not to my mother.

I mean, seriously! What on Earth is a pathetic excuse of a 67-year-old woman acting childish for some reason? It's like an adult throwing a tantrum over McDonald's and some crap! I mean, come on! This part actually exposed another huge reason why I like to search for my old friends in my old stomping grounds and why women are so special in the US in the first place because their standing posture is different than men's! If you're an adult and if you throw a childish tantrum over McDonald's, etc., guess what you're doing nearly every day! The moisture in the air and the green environment make for real citizens!

What Am I Doing Next:

Now that I'm back home, if you're wondering what's the next thing I am doing, I am going to do an episode of my Escape from Ever After Let's Play series now that I have the cushion I need to relieve my tailbone pain. It's gonna be before I livestream both Sonic Racing Crossworlds and 2XKO in hopes of growing my channel.

Conclusion:

It has been a lot I had to go though in this entry. The series is back now that I got home. Here's to the next entry.