2XKO is Ceasing Active Development and I'm NOT Happy

It has come to my attention that apparently, 2XKO is dead. No, no, no, what I meant is that there will be no more content and is ceasing active development in December with the intention of leaving the servers online indefinetely. There's a lot to talk about, so... *sigh* let's jump right in...

I'm back with a brand new post that has some bad and heartbreaking news. So, with Marvel Tokon and SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level out, everyone's been pushing for them to recieve support for years to come, including Riot Games' League of Legends fighting game, 2XKO.

At the beginning, it was Project L, until years later, it was renamed to 2XKO. During the first Alpha Lab, feedback went all over the place. The second Alpha Lab came in to be a smaller playtest. Closed Beta opened the gates to giving anyone the the game. Early Access made the game downloadable. After the game launched on console, the half of the 2XKO team laid off and we got news that Akali and Senna are confirmed. The Climb became fun to play. I did a couple of rounds. It is kind of akin to MultiVersus' Rifts system.

Early buzz was established when the game came out on console, but that is not enough to establish insufficient player engagement, so half of the team was laid off. I have been waiting for Season 3 news and guess what? The news popped up stating that 2XKO is going to cease active development in December after one year since launch, but servers will remain online for the foreseeable future.

*sigh* Great, just great. Look, instead of getting angry, I gotta stay in a Buena Vista mood while monologuing about how very disappointed I am about this.

So, the game launched on consoles in January 20th. Weeks later, half of the 2XKO team was laid off. The article stated that they couldn't sustain player engagement. They evaluated the game's player base, not just revenue. Despite major updates, the player base remains flat and couldn't reach enough players to have sufficient player engagement. That explains why the Duo Finder took too long to find me a partner. It is bad enough that MultiVersus died after not having a sustainable player base. Overwatch literally established an overkill player engagement after dropping the 2 and keeping the game free-to-play.

Other than Vi and Jinx in their Arcane model, Riot ceasing active development on 2XKO comes with them bringing League of Legends characters to Fortnite to be used as skins, starting with Ahri. Literally, just one year after launch. I didn't want the game to cease active development. I want it to continue active development despite insufficient player engagement, especially when there are literally just a lot of characters just begging to be in the roster. Even Diaphone is quitting his job to play this game in light of the news and I don't blame him. The console sneak peek video has made 9.8 million views on YouTube. This should've reflected as player engagement.

According to the viewer count on Twitch, 2XKO sits on a meager 26 viewers. The numbers tell us exactly why 2XKO is ceasing active development.

Overwatch has 61.5K viewers. The numbers show that Overwatch remains having a high player retention because of the fact that it dropped the 2 and remains being a free-to-play title and has a focus on the community rather than metrics, which is also why 2XKO flopped.

And Marvel Rivals has 16.8K viewers. It is not as hype as Overwatch, but nonetheless, 16.8K viewers is a good amount if you ask me.

I thought that 2XKO has changed everything that it is on par with the Alpha Lab playtests, but I was apparently wrong. It sucks to see it end active development after a year since launch. This posed an issue with modern fighting games. The PC versions of them have performance issues and they have launch snags like Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game's missing Ranked and Switch performance issues and the PC version of Marvel Tokon having the Sony DRM that is the source of backlash.

I made a post on X sharing my feelings about how disappointed I am about 2XKO ceasing active development due to low player engagement. Honestly, if 2XKO was a passion project, they could just continue active development for years to come no matter the player engagement and metrics.

Final SEGA side:

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 = 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

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. It has been the end of the road for what could've been a phenomenal League of Legends fighting game. For that, I am scrapping sequels to the post that talks about the wanted future characters.

My condolences and I'm sorry to the team that struggled to maintain player engagement of this game they pour their hearts and souls into and to Diaphone quitting his job. It sucks to end like this. I wish them the best of luck finding ways to come back stronger for the next genre. I have a follow up post where I pinpoint the problems that caused 2XKO to have a low player engagement at launch and what solutions that should've had been done. If the post is up, you can click the link below.

-Post coming soon-

Now, does it sting that we found out that 2XKO is ceasing active development due to low player retention? Yes, it does. Only a lot. However, there is another free-to-play fighting game that launched this year, SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level. But luckily, 4CYDE Studios has confirmed that SEGA vs. Capcom is essentially a non-profit passion project to never cease active development as they have a lot and I mean a LOT of characters, character themes and everything else straight up confirmed in their first livestream. You can click the link to the post where I did a deep dive into the situation.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2026/07/new-sega-vs-capcom-info-revealed.html

Wanted 2XKO Characters for Years 2-5

With Lux and Samira on their way, I am going to share the wanted posters for future 2XKO characters for 2027-2030 and my wish list of 2027 characters I have made. You know, instead of saying 2027-2030, I'm gonna say Years 2-5. I think you can connect the dots. Before I share them, let me make myself clear that the wanted posters don't confirm that the characters are coming to 2XKO. They represent characters I want. Now, let's get to the nitty-gritty of sharing the wanted posters.

Originally, I was supposed to have 25 wanted posters, but due to the things in the background referencing non-playable characters in stages and non-playable characters in the background of certain stages, there are now 30 wanted posters. But the Years 2-5 timeframe remains. How this works is that if one of the wanted characters is announced, I cross them out. Simple as that. I won't talk about all of them, but I'll be talking about the characters that I found interesting while picking the characters for my Year 2 wish list.

First off, I have to talk about the elephant in the room, Katarina. I put her as the most wanted character because she was Thanos-snapped from the game's earlier stages of development. To fix this, Arucelli submitted Katarina's concept art to the designers for her redesign stage. I want to add her to my Year 2 wish list, but I'll be let down again if she is not one of the Year 2 characters, so to play it safe, I think I'll leave her out of my Year 2 wish list. You know me. I always expect Katarina to be materalized on every trailer and get let down every single time. It is indeed synonymous to anyone always expecting Sora from Kingdom Hearts on every Smash reveal trailer and getting let down until he is materialized as the final DLC in Smash Ultimate.

But something hit me. Remember the Luigi trailer for SSF2 Beta? He was confirmed because they realized that they were one character short of the N64 cast. But what does the SSF2 Luigi trailer have anything to do with Katarina?

Well, here's a look at the list of confirmed characters so far in the Wiki. The list currently has 17 characters, but Lux and Samira are not out yet. That's why you're seeing the ??? to be replaced by a final archetype once it has been revealed on the week when their full trailers drop. If they realized that the list of characters is missing a character that starts with a K after Lux was revealed, there is evidence that Katarina could coincide with Samira's launch when she is teased at the end of the Samira trailer since they are Noxians. I think we can see our red-haired Noxian coincide with our stylish Noxian daredevil, which contributes to her being a Dante-like, courtesy of the buzz in 2XKO Pools at Evo. I'm not confirming anything, just saying it's a possibility.

Katarina was cut from the game in its earlier stages of development and she couldn't be materialized in the first place, but she will be, thanks to Arucelli making her a concept art and submitting it to the developers back in October. That's why I put her as the most wanted character. We want our red-headed Noxian to be materialized and it's something I'll be chasing for until she is materialized. If Katarina is shadow-dropped as the extra 7th Year 1 character to coincide with Samira, an extra update will be made.

Leona is gonna be peak in 2XKO with her giant shield, sword and starfire imbued powers. I'm not talking about a DC heroine. However, she could use Wonder Woman's playbook in Injustice. In fact, her picture is shown on the League of Legends homepage when you clicked on the Tank symbol, meaning that the Radiant Dawn is likely. For that, Leona deserves a guaranteed spot in my Year 2 wish list and she is likely to be a Bruiser. I love to see Leona make her way into 2XKO in some way, shape or form. She is, in fact, in the background of Kiramman Yacht donning her Pool Party skin just waiting to be playable.

Now, since Leona is a Targon character, she will come with a Targon-themed stage, like how Lux will come with a Demacia-themed stage at launch and Senna came with a Runeterra-themed stage, Abandoned Armory. However, Thresh launched, but didn't launch with a Shadow Isles-themed stage since it is coming out at the start of Season 3.

The boy and yeti wombo combo of the Freljord can really do well in a fighting game by being a Ferra/Torr-like to make Nunu stand or sit on Willump throughout the match. I know I have already talked about this in the past, but there is one thing I actually didn't not cover. It's how S1 and S2 specials would work for Nunu and Willump. S1 specials would focus on Willump while S2 specials would focus on Nunu. This can definetely work in 2XKO. It may be quite a balancing act.

See, Ferr/Torr's inclusion in Mortal Kombat X inspired other fighting games to have a small character and a big character wombo combo. Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite had Rocket Raccoon and Groot and Smash Ultimate had Banjo-Kazooie. So what will 2XKO answer with? Nunu and Willump.

Evo 2026 had a booth that sells Jayce cards at the 2XKO booth. That didn't confirm Jayce, and it's a good thing because they are done with Arcane characters for now because if they added another Arcane character this year, it'll defeat the purpose, so he'll probably come either in Year 2, 3, 4 or 5. Let's get to the main meat of how Jayce would perform in 2XKO.

I have talked about him, but there is one thing I did not talk about. That is his S1 and S2 specials. Since Jayce's hammer can shoot magic, S2 specials would focus on shooting magic out of his hammer while S1 specials would focus on physical hammer attacks, making him a All-Rounder. I do want to see Jayce in 2XKO, but his cards sold at the booth didn't even mean he's confirmed yet and they are done with Arcane characters for now. But do not worry, he will be at some point. This pitch to how Jayce performs in 2XKO is obvious.

• S1 specials to involve physical hammer attacks
• S2 specials to shoot magic from hammer

In the past, I have talked about Gangplank, but I did not talk about are his S1 and S2 specials, so I'm gonna highlight them now. Gangplank is known for having his cutlass, pistol and powder keg in his arsenal, so like how Teemo shoots his slingshot with S1 and places mushrooms with S1, Gangplank would shoot his pistol with S1 and place powder kegs with S2, classifying him a Trap character. What about Trial by Fire? Is it gonna be scrapped? No, of course not! Trial by Fire would come with a gauge that fills up from his cutlass attacks. Land a certain number of attacks and Trial by Fire would be activated for the remainder of the match. My pitch to how Gangplank would perform in 2XKO makes it clear.

• Normals to involve cutlass attacks
• S1 specials to shoot his pistol
• S2 specials to place powder kegs
• Trial by Fire to activate after landing a certain number of cutlass attacks

I have already talked about the red-haired pirate in the past, but there's something in regards to Miss Fortune to get off my chest. If Miss Fortune is revealed and her trailer drops, a teaser for Gangplank could be experienced at the end of the trailer to result in both Miss Fortune and Gangplank launching on the same day to honor the lore surrounding Miss Fortune taking Gangplank down, like how Senna and Thresh's simultaneous launch honored the lore behind Senna breaking out of Thresh's lantern to gain powers of the Black Mist's dark juju. I decided to put both Miss Fortune and Gangplank on my Year 2 wish list. It's not a guaranteed confirmation. It's a guess.

I mean, you got to admit, there are literally two Bilgewater-themed stages. Miss Fortune needs to be one of the Year 2 characters because of the tavern in Bilgewater, right? She is literally sitting right there in the background of Kiramman Yacht in her Pool Party skin with Leona just itching to be playable!

X's Grok written some information about me explaining how Sona would play in 2XKO, so I decided to lean more into her. If you don't know how Sona would perform in 2XKO, let me give you an example. Let's take Ulala from Space Channel 5. Ulala is essentially straight up confirmed to be a playable character in SEGA vs. Capcom, courtesy of FaRe'N'HiTe. A music based character with musical sounds that occur when landing hits. It's safe to say that Sona is likely, not certainly, likely to be the Ulala of 2XKO with sounds of landing hits played from her etwahl and musical moves that can give matches a lot of flair it needs and have a new archetype.

I know I said that Lucian is likely to be the 5th Year 1 character because of Senna. Well, it's not the case. See, what is really cool is that like how Miss Fortune could be a Noel Vermillion-like, it's highly likely that Lucian will be a Star-Lord-like in 2XKO since we are getting a Dante-like being Samira and that's the buzz I have been hearing when I was watching 2XKO Pools at Evo 2026. Now, because we have Senna and his lore mentioning Thresh slaying his wife, he earns a guaranteed spot in my Year 2 wish list, indicating that he is likely, not certainly, likely to debut to 2XKO as his wife did.

When Thresh makes his way into 2XKO, he became our first full-fledged villain to ever make it, so I think it's time we get another villain in the roster, and that is Veigar. The Tiny Master of Evil is gonna be peak with his dark magic. In fact, I like to see Veigar in 2XKO in some way, shape or form. S1 specials focus on his wand and S2 specials focus on using his right claw, which just might work.

Ashe will not be the only bow and arrow character I want in 2XKO because Vayne is the second bow and arrow character I also wish for. I have explained how Ashe would perform in 2XKO by having the same treatment as Caitlyn with the kicking, S1 to fire, cartwheel kick and fluid combos. However, Vayne would be different story because she has a wrist crossbow and a heavy crossbow, which can work in the specials department, so here's how the Night Hunter would perform in 2XKO.

Vayne's S1 specials would be for her wrist crossbow while her S2 specials would be for her heavy crossbow. While yes, it can be done because Vayne is a Marksman and she can have fluid combos accompanied by her punches and kicks, kind of like MvC3 Jill Valentine, who has fluid combos and it's something that Vayne would have. But her combos are gonna be more fluid and faster than Caitlyn's.

What is really cool is that like how Samira is classified as a Dante-like, Vayne could be classified as a Bayonetta-like since she is a Night Hunter. I have talked about this in the SEGA vs. Capcom post. Picture this, a 2XKO character that is a combination of MvC3 Jill Valentine and Bayonetta accompanied by fluid combos and being one with the night.

Riot said that they are done with Arcane characters for now. But that doesn't mean no more Arcane characters to come to the roster and Viktor is among them. Since selling Jayce cards at the booth didn't mean his confirmation at the time, decided to put Viktor in my Year 2 wish list. He will launch with an Arcane skin like others and is earned through purchasing the Ultra tier of the Battle Pass. I am choosing one Arcane character for my Year 2 wish list, which is Viktor.

With Luxanna Crownguard on her way to 2XKO as the first Demacia character, her brother, Garen Crownguard, is highly likely to come to 2XKO as his sister did and will be an All-Rounder, to bring in the might in 2XKO, something that Darius would do. It's a possibility for Garen to be in the 2XKO roster and have intro dialogues with his sister.

And then, something hit me. I went to Katarina's bio to look at the list of characters she is related to. And can you guess who is on the list of characters Katarina is related to? Garen. Huh, unreal.

I did talk about how the Dark Child would perform in 2XKO in the past. Talked about that Tibbers would be present throughout the match for S2 specials that would be for Tibbers to classify Annie a Carl Clover-like. However, after some thought, decided to change that.

Annie being a full-fledged Carl Clover-like will not work in 2XKO, so we have think her performance in League of Legends where Annie is alone and make her a partial Carl Clover-like. What do I mean by that? Annie would summon Tibbers with neutral S2, Tibbers would move when holding S2 and pressing S2 again while Tibbers is present makes Tibbers attack and is influenced by any direction and would disappear immediately. This is gonna classify her a Strategist like Thresh.

The pitch to how Annie performs in 2XKO sums it up with the bullet points.

• S1 specials for Annie herself
• S2 specials for Tibbers
• Pressing S2 summons Tibbers
• While Tibbers is present, pressing S2 and any direction makes Tibbers attack and holding S2 makes Tibbers move
• The above points classify Annie as a Strategist

Here is my 2XKO Year 2 wish list containing Leona, Lucian, Miss Fortune, Gangplank, Garen and Viktor. I wanted to have five characters in my Year 2 wish list, but in case if Riot decides to release six characters per year, I decided to put in six characters. I wanted to put an Ionian up there, but I had to choose the characters that are highly likely to debut.

For context, I put Miss Fortune and Gangplank next to each other because since they launched Senna and Thresh simultaneously to honor the lore surrounding the part where Senna breaks out of Thresh's lantern to gain dark juju powers of the Black Mist, they could launch Miss Fortune and Gangplank simultaneously to honor League of Legends' Bilgewater lore surrounding the part where Gangplank becomes a ghost after Miss Fortune killed him. I think this calls for a possibility of a match that has Senna and Miss Fortune against Thresh and Gangplank that is a battle of the sexes match. Pretty cool to experience that in 2XKO, huh?

You think I'll stop at showing you my Year 2 wish list? Well, think again because I also have my Year 3 wish list containing Ashe, Annie, Lee Sin, Kayle, Nunu and Willump and Jayce.

As I said before, the wanted posters don't confirm what characters are confirmed and the ones in my Year 2 and Year 3 wish lists are hypothetical. However, there is one thing I can confirm. One that is obvious is that with Senna out, Lux on her way and the Demacia-themed stage having a statue of Kayle in the background, Garen, Lucian and Kayle now have a high likelihood because of it. Just hone in on the pieces of evidence for context.

This is just part one in regards to the wanted characters for Years 2-5. Expect sequels to this post. If the sequels are up, you can click the links to them below.

-Part 2 releases when all Year 2 characters have been revealed-
-Part 3 releases when all Year 3 characters have been revealed-
-Part 4 releases when all Year 4 characters have been revealed-
-Part 5 releases when all Year 5 characters have been revealed-

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.

4CYDE Studios' NEW Game in the Works

As SEGA vs. Capcom's full-fledged launch is tomorrow, today, 4CYDE Studios has launched a website. We know that they have SEGA vs. Capcom in there, but they also have another project in the works. Let's jump right in.

Today, we're gonna talk about the official 4CYDE Studios website. That's right. 4CYDE Studios.

Here is the official header for the official 4CYDE Studios website with the "We create 4 U" slogan and the metal thing that moves with your cursor.

If you look closer, it shows that there are two games deployed and a number of players that refer to those who signed up so far. But how there are two games in there?

Here are the two games deployed so far. They are SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level and the untitled new game that is in the works.

Let's take a look at the mystery game's hub.

The picture that has the PS4 controller has the words "Coming Soon," indicating the untitled game is not yet revealed.

An untitled new game has some firm information. It is hinted as a fighting game to use the Ikemen GO engine and comes out in 2028 for PC and Mac.

It turns out that the untitled new game will also be Linux and Steam. SEGA vs. Capcom is also coming to the next two platforms.

Ladies and gentlemen, we might be looking at a potential new fighing game being in the works and I am very excited. I have to make this post because they have a new fighting game. SEGA vs. Capcom's full-fledged launch is tomorrow, so get ready for the next level, everyone. To download SEGA vs. Capcom and the untitled game and have access to them and their new patch releases, you can do so via the official 4CYDE Studios website and you will need to have a gamer account. Here's the link below.

https://4cydestudios.com/

Midway Was Great to the Gaming Industry

It has occured to me that Midway Games, the defunct Chicago video game company that was behind the iconic franchises. Then the majority of their assets were swept away by Warner Bros., including Mortal Kombat. They were great to the gaming industry for years prior to the date when they went defunct. Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a story post. So, Midway Games was an American game company in Chicago. However, they weren't always known for producing video games. As Midway Manufacturing in 1958, they were an independent manufacturer of amusement equipment founded by two people, Henry Ross and Marcine Wolverton. They started out as a developer of arcade games and made an alliance with Taito and Namco for distribution. When Bally came along to consolidate with Midway Manufacturing after buying them, Midway Manufacturing was renamed to Bally Midway to produce pinball machines.

Pinball machines were loved by many fans whose forte was amusement. That's where Williams Electronics came in to purchase Bally Midway. So far, pinball has been a most popular amusement back in the old days when arcade games were first invented and as kids, we insert coins into machines. Midway has produced arcade games by Williams and Atari, such as Robotron: 2084, Smash TV, Joust, Defender, Gauntlet and the Rush series. The games in particular became well-liked by many. Williams decided to offer its video game rights to Midway and was given the pinball rights in return. This caused Midway to stop using the Bally Midway label and live a life on their own.

As time went on, Midway knew that they can no longer bear the influence of WMS and Bally since they were working independently. It became a lucid dream for the company to become full-fledged. As a full-fledged company, Midway has teamed up with Acclaim Entertainment, who earned the home console rights to arcade titles by Williams and Midway, but led to a refusal clause. One person went on to say that they were working on arcade games with Williams and Atari. Midway wouldn't agree to Acclaim's decision because of the refusal clause in any of their arcade games. There it was that Acclaim decided to port the first Mortal Kombat to home consoles.

However, the move sparked controversy that it lead to 1992-1993 senate hearings on violent video games held by Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl and the establishment of the ESRB. It has been a bone of contention surrounding video game violence since the backlash about porting the first Mortal Kombat to home consoles, so whoever did this, paid the price. Acclaim did not own Mortal Kombat. They helped Midway publish it to home consoles. That was before Midway renamed themselves to Midway Manufacturing to Midway Games, Inc. and Williams subsequently spun off the rest of the interest in Midway to its shareholders to make Midway the independent company for the first time in almost 30 years. Midway now has the power to work independently from Williams to have a focus on home video games.

During Midway's focus on home video games, they became a full-fledged video game company to produce games released on consoles that have 3D graphics. In the case of arcade sports games, Midway was responsible of NFL Blitz, NBA Ballers, MLB Slugfest and NHL Hitz under the Midway Sports name. This is where you might argue and say that NFL Blitz was released on the 5th generation consoles, so what am I talking about? While it is true, the first NFL Blitz was released on the 5th generation consoles. And when we get to the next era of gaming, MLB Slugfest, NHL Hitz, RedCard and NBA Ballers came in to join Blitz.

And as we get to the PS3 and Xbox 360 era, Midway has taken NFL Blitz to the next level with Blitz: The League, which my brother and I played together on the PS3. I pretty much loved it. Unlike its predecessors, the game was rated M due to graphic violence, drug use and explicit use of profanity. None of them are suitable for children under 17. That contributed to its ban in Australia because of drugs depicted as incentives. These factors show that this is definetely NOT a nice game for children because of explicit swearing and graphic violence in it.

Midway also had compilations of their arcade games with the entry of Midway Arcade Treasures for the 6th generation consoles because that's what they thought they did with Williams and Bally. While Mortal Kombat is nuanced, the golden age of the series is from the first Mortal Kombat to the fourth game that introduced a 3D space. This allowed Midway to have a trilogy of games that take place in the 3D space released on the PS2, GameCube and Xbox and introduced switching between three fighting styles and earning color-coded coins. But Midway could not understand that.

In 2006 and 2007, Midway lost a further $77 million and $100 million on sales of $166 million and $157 million. Midway just couldn't figure out what they were doing and even though they teamed up with Warner Bros., they still struggled with maintaining their revenue. And even in the case of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, planned DLC was scrapped due to Midway's financial troubles. This allowed them to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and subsequently sell most of their assets to Warner Bros. Games with the intention of them to purchase the Midway Games trademark.

The key takeaway is that Midway started out as an independent manufacturer for amusement equipment to develop arcade games with several companies and pinball machines. When became a focus to make games for home consoles, Midway shown their perseverance as a great company to the gaming industry.

This is where we get to something really exciting. Midway has been a nostalgic company that lasted and ceased operations on the 7th generation era of gaming. For the PlayStation Plus Premium news, this month's lineup came with a bombshell regarding wanting to play games that are produced by Midway Games.

Psi-Ops: the Mindgate Conspiracy is now available on classics catalog for the PS4 and PS5, so when you visit the game's hub, you'll see the "Warner Bros. Interactive" label, making it the first Midway game to ever come to the catalog. The label had to be shown because Warner Bros. Interactive owned most of Midway's assets, bought the company out and purchased the Midway trademark and used it to make most of the franchises be published under the WB Games name. The game was left off in a cliffhanger and a sequel was supposed to resolve it, but despite positive reviews, it never came into fruition due to the Mindgate Conspiracy's poor sales. If Warner Bros. plans to remaster this game to hit fans right in the heart, maybe they can develop the sequel if the remaster is sold well.

So, a precedent has spoken and been set. If a Midway title like Psi-Ops could make it to the classics catalog, then other Midway titles like Rampage, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, Area 51, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Midway Arcade Treasures, NFL Blitz and a lot more now have more of a chance since hubs for future Midway titles will carry the Warner Bros. Interactive label. This doesn't apply to PlayStation Plus Premium. This also applies to Nintendo Switch Online's GBA, N64 and GameCube catalogs. Neither of them hadn't got a Midway game yet, but they will have one at some point.

And that is my story about Chicago's video game company and how it became a great company to the game industry with news in regards to the classics catalog having a game by Midway. While I am sad that Midway had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after financial difficulties, they were not the first nor the only company to actually file for bankruptcy in the 2000s.

The first company that filed for bankruptcy in the 2000s was the 3DO Company. They declared bankruptcy after they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to their games' poor sales, but nobody purchased the 3DO trademark. Data East filed for bankruptcy and most of their games were acquired and the Data East trademark was purchased by G-Mode Corporation. Acclaim filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and sold their assets to multiple existing companies while executives purchased the the Acclaim trademark. And finally, THQ filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sold all of their assets to multiple companies and Nordic Games, who would acquire mainline franchises and purchase the THQ trademark and use it to rename themselves as THQ Nordic.

The 3DO Company, Data East, Acclaim, Midway and THQ were the five companies that had to file for bankruptcy respectively and they are deemed as nostalgic. G-Mode, Warner Bros. Games and THQ Nordic purchased the Data East, Midway Games and the THQ trademarks and logos and used them to ensure growth while the 3DO trademark was left unacquired. Executives did purchase the Acclaim trademark and used it to relaunch the company as an indie publisher. That's why we don't see Warner Bros. Games, THQ Nordic or G-Mode as nostalgic since they exist in this generation.

I did a post that talks about how we experience Mortal Kombat forever because of both Warner Bros. and NetherRealm Studios and the competition between Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. Here's a link to the post if you're interesting in knowing more.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2026/05/how-mortal-kombat-changed-series-forever.html

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!

Where do I even begin on this one? I was playing the Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls Open Beta and it became a blast. I already 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 I get the full game. See, I made Magik as leader because she is basically a combination of Nanase from Under Night In-Birth, Annie from Skullgirls, and Senna from League of Legends. Seems like an uncanny and chaotic combination, don't you think?

I'm probably gonna get the PC version. It's not just the fact that 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 because of ongoing market conditions and it was also met with backlash, but the level of backlash is not as strong as the one against ending discs in 2028. I'm getting the PC version so that I can have free online multiplayer. However, the PC version has some gameplay and performance issues during the Open Beta like the stuttering in logos, which can be fixed in the full game.

After the Marvel Tokon Open Beta ended, I have came across something that shocked me. This is in regards to the situation about someone who was accused in the past is involved in the development of 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, 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.

Six years later, 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?

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 spare my G-rated rant and backlash 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 caused the backlash by making a dark and sadistic "I can't breathe" joke following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Derek Chauvin. People had 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 the part in Mikey's story shown that 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. But that was a couple months before Mike Zaimont sexually harassed his fellow employees. In fact, 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 blockhead, of all people, a second chance in the game industry despite being pressed by PC Gamer? I know he didn't abuse minors like Joey Cuellar did, but still. Where is her freaking honor? I mean, there are a lot of people who are awesome and never been alleged of sexual misconduct 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 POS like Mike Zaimont to work on Diesel Legacy? No no no no! She should've known better than to use a redemption stick on a POS person!

I gotta calm down because that part I came across made 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 don't care if Joey Cuellar is way worse than him. When we say that Mike Zaimont SHOULD NOT be having a future in the industry, we mean it. 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 livestreaming arsenal with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and 2XKO. I am investing in an Ethernet cord to fight lag and have a stable 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. I was using Wi-Fi. Investing in an Ethernet cord remedies that and that's gonna be my new standard going forward, especially if its made to provide a stable experience until Wifi 8 comes out to provide stability as a wired conection. 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* 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 should be showing his face in the game industry again, which he shouldn't. Not after he killed Indivisible with his refusal to resign from Lab Zero that made everyone left to form Future Club.

Seeyle, Seelye, Seeyle, please reverse your decision to redeem Mike Zaimont, because as I have said before, he shouldn't be having a future in the industry, period, especially since he killed the upcoming content and the planned Peacock adaptation for Indivisible.

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 and Bayonetta are 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. Bayonetta would be too since she is featured in Smash 4. I believe that straight up confirming these two characters would literally be the best thing that 4CYDE Studios would do. Yes, I can hear people say, "Who will be the Ulala and Bayonetta 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 using Marvel Tokon's playbook.

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, Bayonetta, 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 can 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 very early 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 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 Ulala and Bayonetta-likes in 2XKO. Like, we know that Lux, Samira, Kennen, Sett, Zeri and Katarina will be Ingrid, Dante, Sonic, Axel Stone, Mega Man and Vyse-likes in 2XKO, so there are obviously two characters in League of Legends that could potentially be Ulala and Bayonetta-likes in 2XKO since they are straight up confirmed. And they are two Demacian characters, Sona and Vayne. There is a lot more to talk about in the post that contains wanted posters for 25 characters for the 2027-2030 timeframe. It is still in the works, so if the post is up, you can click the link below.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2026/08/wanted-2xko-characters-for-years-2-5.html

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, I have 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 Xbox 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 with their greed. 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 it's gonna pass.

Now, this is not the first time something like this has happened in the department of backlash-worthy events among the gaming community. Cards Unbound was implemented to Paladins in the OB64 update, free Hextech Chests were removed in League of Legends, content and art have been censored in Skullgirls 2nd Encore, aggression was encouraged in Tekken 8 at the beginning of Season 2, predatory microtransactions were implemented in Skate. and Crazy Taxi: World Tour was AI-generated. This has been a continuous point of contention. These events angered the gaming community and caused them to make calls to boycott these games and companies until they fix things to relieve backlash. Trust me, if you keep track of and live through the era of backlash-worthy events, both inside and outside gaming, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

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? After the dates, games you bought in the PS Store will remain playable while physical PS3 games will still work.

This seals the deal. I agree with the backlash against Sony's decision to stop producing discs for games that release in 2028. If Sony doesn't listen to the backlash and reverse their decision by 2028, I'll be taking my digital purchases on Steam. But I don't want to put a slant to indies or retro games because indies have less space and are less-memory intensive and I get to revisit my games I played during my childhood. I like to make myself clear that when I buy games digitally, I own them, not being granted a revocable license.

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 licenses, not revocable licenses. Heck, might as well do the same thing Xbox is doing, having a disc-to-digital feature. They're keeping discs relevant and not phasing them out. 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 people expecting Katarina being tantamount to expecting Sora from Kingdom Hearts, don't get your hopes up.

I really thought that we won't get to see announcements after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Vegas, but guess what? We actually did unlike in Evo Japan, and the final two Year 1 characters have been revealed there. While none of them that are announced are in my Year 1 wish list, they are actually the two characters in my general 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. Ladies and gentlemen, the final two Year 1 characters, Lux, the Lady of Luminosity, and Samira, the Desert Rose, have been officially revealed at Evo 2026. It's time for the breakdown.

As you watched the trailer, Lux swings her two-sided wand, which can't be done in League of Legends, 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. 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, general reasons 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 with a Demacia-themed stage, and it's a developing story to honor League of Legends' Demacia Rising event.

Setting the Stage for Garen and Other Demacia Champions:

A precedent has been set. If Luxanna Crownguard can make her debut to 2XKO as the first ever Demacia character, then anyone in Demacia can make their debut to 2XKO, including her brother, Garen Crownguard. But luckily, because Lux is coming to 2XKO, Garen is highly likely to make his debut to 2XKO as his sister did, along with a few others like Jarvan IV, Vayne, Sona, Shyvana, Galio, Quinn, Kayle, Xin Zhao and even Locke, who is the most recent Demacian character in League of Legends. I have some countless testimonies telling me that Tianna Crownguard might potentially be a playable character in League of Legends. We'll see. But I'm expecting Garen more than others so that we can experience a Demacian brother and sister duo in 2XKO.

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:

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 any longer because we're getting the second Noxian being Samira. He is, in fact, on the list of characters she is releated to. I woudn't be shocked if we would eventually be gettng a Shuriman turned Noxian daredevil. I mean, Samira was a Shuriman in her childhood.

A Dante-Like?:

When I was watching 2XKO Pools at Evo 2026, the commentators had a conversation about hearing rumors regarding a female character in League of Legends that could be a Dante-like in 2XKO. The rumors are true. 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 what the selection will look like once the 17 character, which is Samira, launches. But what will it look like?

Well, there are two ways to manipulate the selection to make room for more characters after Lux. I went to MS Paint and worked on two ways 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 demonstration 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.

And in it are the narrower character portraits and a smaller Random selection button.

If they go for this method to manipulate the selection of characters, they can narrow the portraits and the random selection by 50%. 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. The width of the portraits is, in fact, shown on the cabinet's screen during the part where we choose our characters.

These are my two designs to suggest on how are they gonna manipulate the portraits to make enough room for the 17th character and beyond. Again, the top design that holds up to 32 characters is actually ideal to go with first. Once the 33rd character launches, the bottom design would be next to hold up to 48 characters. After all, I am excited to see more characters get added becuase of a small roster on a tag fighter.

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. The 16-character roster may be given a chance and there is no lore surrounding these characters.

Special Skins:

If you keep track of the Competitive Series, participating at Major events offers players a special skin for characters that just launched. Evo Japan 2026 offered Blood Moon Akali, Evo 2026 offered Pool Party Senna, Evo France 2026 will offer a special skin for Lux, and finally, Battle Coliseum will offer a special skin for Samira. Since there are five Major events and six new characters, they had to coincide Thresh's launch with Senna's launch to launch them on the same day and get them ready for their legal debut for Evo, honoring the lore.

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 and Samira's launch in 2XKO, 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. Arucelli stated that she will be in a future roster when she submitted her concept art to the designers for her redesign stage 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. Katarina is still likely and not ruled out, 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 since they are in my general wish list 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? That one really shocked me, especially since this is a callback to Arcane.

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.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2026/08/wanted-2xko-characters-for-years-2-5.html