2XKO is Ceasing Active Development...

So, Season 3 and Lux are fast approaching and we have been waiting for news about them since the Coven Bundle came out. An announcement popped up and unfortunately, it is not looking good. Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a brand new post that has me quite shocked. So, with fighting games rolling around like tumbleweeds in the wind in 2026, you would know that the fighting game community has been thriving, especially recently with the recent ones, starting with Invincible VS, to Avatar Legends: the Fighting Game, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls and even SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level. There are a ton of fighting games beyond them coming. But specifically, I like to point out to the direction of the tag fighter on this post, the League of Legends tag fighter, 2XKO.

So, this game has came out of Early Access and launched on console in January, being met with positive buzz for innovative tag mechanics and co-op gameplay. However, as soon as the game launched on console, things took a turn for the game. Half of the 2XKO team was laid off. Momentum has not reached the level need for long-term development despite the buzz. You would know that just around the corner, Lux and Season 3 are coming. Sadly, I have some sad new for you guys.

Riot has posted a message on X about the future of 2XKO and it's... not a good one. 2XKO is ceasing active development in December with the intention of leaving the servers online for the foreseeable future, releasing the Ultimate Pack and refunding those who made purchases on the Starter Pack and KO Points before August 20th.

So, it's official. 2XKO is ceasing active development in December with the intention of leaving the servers online. This is an all time low for us fighting game fans. You know, when I said that if a game like, I don't know, Skullgirls could continue ongoing development, then anything was possible, I didn't mean for 2XKO to suffer that fate. I never realized that a buzz-worthy game would be ending active development after a one-year run to disappoint us fans of fighting games.

I wish they can do another year so that we can see more characters in the roster, but despite positive feedback, that level of retention couldn't cover rising costs that doing another year would cost Riot more at the rate of retention and it is a significant gamble, so they have no choice but to cease active development as a responsible and safe choice, meaning that after the optional final bug fix patch, there will be no more content, but an endless void. Not even Major events in the Competitive Series can help cover costs.

Seriously, there are so many words that make me want to punch a hole in the wall. They literally said that 2XKO cost them substantially more to operate than it brings in that ceasing active development was the best route forward. This just tells me that Riot seems to be holding on to the fact of revenue goals the current retention fell short of as I realized that live service games are not as sustainable as we once thought as evident on Wikipedia, with exceptions of League of Legends, Marvel Rivals and Overwatch; they are the sustainable ones.

Longevity is something that companies that have been banking on when developing fighting games and it's working. Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, Guilty Gear Strive and even Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising have longevity, with smaller fighters like Skullgirls, Brawlhalla and Saturday AM: Battle Manga to follow suit soon. People have been chanting for these games to get supported long-term. The perfect example at this moment is Guilty Gear Strive. It has been selling like hotcakes. The game sold around an estimate of over a million copies, which contributed to Strive having a long-term support up to the 2.0 era. 

It appears that 2XKO is not the first fighting game that couldn't achieve a longevity of support. If you don't remember, Mortal Kombat 1 couldn't get a third year of support to have a Year 3 pass due to its poor sales that fell short of its goal. I think it's possibly due to the fact that Mortal Kombat tends to be rated M because of extreme violence. But Street Fighter, Tekken and Guilty Gear aren't since these titles are rated T.

I made a post on X sharing how disappointed I am about 2XKO ceasing active development due to low player engagement. Even Diaphone is quitting his job to play this game in light of this news and I don't even blame him. Literally weeks after Marvel Tokon and SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level came out, we heard 2XKO is ceasing active development in December and I am very disappointed.

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 = Gain Ground
Ekko on the SEGA side = Pulseman
Jinx on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Samira on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Vi on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Yasuo on the SEGA side = Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo
Akali on the Capcom side = Power Stone
Darius on the Capcom side = Knights of the Round
Lux on the Capcom side = Mega Man X
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 I have made final changes to. 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 despite all of the buzz. 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. I am cancelling my future plans by deleting and editing the posts that pertain to the future of 2XKO. I have a follow up post that have the factors that cite 2XKO's flop at launch coming soon.

Hearing 2XKO ending active development after a short one-year run is a stark disappointment for us in the FGC, especially when there are FGC members that played League of Legends wanted to see Riven, Sett, Garen, Vayne, Sona, Gangplank, Miss Fortune, Lucian, Veigar, Malcolm Graves, Leona, whoever you can think of! A precedent seals the deal. If 2XKO could end active development after a disappointingly short one-year run due to low player retention, then I'll probably have to follow Diaphone's footsteps by diverting my attention and support to the only tag fighter, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls.

But luckily, a new update for Marvel Tokon is in development to fix most of the issues present in the PC version and a longevity of support is being planned. I have a post that talks about what do I think about the game so far coming soon.

I have countless testimonies telling me that people like Diaphone are quitting their job supporting it. This is how messed up and disappointing 2XKO ceasing active development after a short one-year run is. Does this mean that we'll never see another free-to-play fighting game? Not neccessarily. See, since we heard that momentum has not reached the level needed for sustainability when the team was large from the start after half of the 2XKO team was laid off, a smaller and leaner team can take a crack at developing a free-to-play fighting game and if that game comes out while the team is small, there is a high chance of success. Very similarly to how Overwatch's player retention and its team remained sustainable for a decade.

My condolences and I'm sorry to the team that struggled to maintain player engagement of this game they poured 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 new ways to come back stronger for their next game.