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

2XKO is a free-to-play tag fighter set in the League of Legends universe that is primed to end active development while leaving the servers online for the foreseeable future after an ephemeral one-year development cycle due to its low player retention. I mean Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is getting another year of content despite its low player engagement and Brawlhalla stood a chance, so why couldn't 2XKO? But there is a little hope because I have thought of something. What if Riot Games licensed 2XKO's development cycle to Arc System Works? Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a new post that is a follow up to the update in regards to 2XKO's 2026 characters. So, with 2XKO ending active development due to poor engagement, the team is ending most of the comms from 2XKO with the exception of some coverage for remaining competitive events and patch notes. On the previous post, I said that Arc System Works is the perfect licensee candidate for 2XKO's development cycle. We can now go into detail about this.

Arc System Works, the Japanese company responsible of the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue franchises, became an ideal licensee candidate in association with Bandai Namco, Cygames, Nexon and Marvel to make licensed fighting games that use anime-style models and cel shading, which 2XKO essentially uses in its DNA. And Arc System Works might be the perfect company to be in association with Riot Games as the fifth big company. That said, I decided to list the key benefits to 2XKO continuing active development under Arc System Works in association with Riot Games.

Motion Inputs:

We'll start with something that 2XKO never had. Motion inputs consisting of quarter circles, half circles, full circles, dragon motions and charge motions are always important when it comes to fighting games. Some fighting games like Street Fighter 6 have simple controls that involve one button combos and one button specials with directional influences Smash uses. Invincible VS only uses one button specials with directional influence. 2XKO uses two special buttons that have directional influence.

We can actually keep the S1 and S2 buttons and one-button specials with directional influence, but we make specials also performable with motion inputs and pressing any attack button and supers also performable with QCF/QCB + B + C. Motion input specials deal a little more damage than one-button specials with directional influence, which is what the "Good!' pop up means. This is what DNF Duel and Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls have.

Long-Term Sustainability:

When 2XKO came out on console, half of the team behind it was laid off, citing that momentum has not been reached to the level required for long-term sustainability. They were committed until the news popped up that active development will end in December. Do you know who can provide enough energy and help cover costs and tackle challenges? Arc System Works. As I have said on X, with Arc's help, Riot will be able to have a sustained player engagement and looking at ways to cover and curb rising costs. If Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls could get a long-term development cycle like Guilty Gear Strive is, then Arc System Works is the perfect licensee candidate to help Riot give 2XKO's development cycle a second wind.

Six Characters Per Year:

A lot of people were clamouring and complaining about fighting games like Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8 and even Marvel Tokon having a cadence of releasing four additional characters per year. 2XKO was originally supposed to have a release cadence of five characters per year, but changed it to six and to seven. We got Samira and Sett coming as the last two characters to complete the roster to 18 before active development sunsets. But ArcSys' help can help change everything. We could be seeing a release cadence of six characters per year while Arc System Works' help can curb rising costs. Now, agreeing or disagreeing with their complaints against a release cadence of four characters per year is up to you. But for me, I strongly agree, especially with characters coming out in each season.

Custom Lobbies:

Currently, we have private lobbies that are only meant for those you invited. I have been asking for custom lobbies to be both private and public, but the team seemingly doesn't have the resources for that. Arc System Works has a lot of resources to provide Riot with. With Arc's extra resources, Riot can make custom lobbies both private and public. It worked well with other fighting games Arc has done with.

Better Character Output and More Guilty Gear and BlazBlue Equivalents:

Arc System Works helping Riot can help deliver characters that could be Guilty Gear and BlazBlue equivalents in a better output. I went to the Champion Gallery in League of Legends in search of characters that could be equivalent to and have playbooks from the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue characters. Like, we know that Annie and Miss Fortune will have playbooks from Carl Clover and Noel Vermillion, and Zeri will have a playbook of Mega Man X, which, of course, has nothing to do with Guilty Gear or BlazBlue, but I'm just saying it for subjectivity. I have found one character who could have a playbook from one of the Guilty Gear characters. That is Shen. Yes, Shen could be an Answer equivalent. I had a stark interest in seeing these characters become playable in 2XKO, until we heard that active development is ending. But Arc System Works can help make that happen.

But something hit me. After I watched the Samira trailer, it turns out that she is not just a Dante equivalent, but a Noel equivalent as well with chaining together gun shots at a rank of A or higher and stylish gun shots, hence "stylish". I like to hereby state that Samira is, of course, a combination of Dante and Noel Vermillon and maybe 2B? She might be on par with 2B, I don't know.

These are the five key benefits to 2XKO continuing active development under Arc System Works. But there is one caveat to this. If Riot actually licensed it to Arc System Works, will it still be called 2XKO? Well, not necessarily. It can be rebranded to "League of Legends Versus," which I think it's a perfect name to pick up where 2XKO left off. If Arc System Works' licensed anime fighters could succeed, then there's a chance that a hypothetical League of Legends Versus can succeed.

Let me pitch my idea. I would love for 2XKO continuning active development under Arc System Works to benefit motion inputs, a release cadence of six characters per year, long-term sustainability, custom lobbies and better character output and more Guilty Gear and BlazBlue equivalents.

I have said that Sonic Racing: Crossworlds is getting another year of content despite its low engagement while Brawlhalla stood a chance. How come Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and Brawlhalla stood a chance despite their low player engagement while 2XKO isn't? Well, there is one obvious reason.

Like Marvel Tokon, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is not a live-service game. Non-live service games tend to sustain player engagement like glue without the use of live-service elements. We did realize that many live service games like 2XKO aren't as sustainable as we once thought, so sunsetting them was the only choice they have as it will cost them more if they continued active development while retention is low. That's how Highguard became an utter failure that Wildlight should've delayed it for quality.

Brawlhalla is considered a live service game, but it is actually developed by an indie studio. Indie live service games actually tend to sustain player engagement without facing a round of layoffs and have the tendency to maintain sustainability. That's the point to this.

In other news, not only Arc System Works confirmed a One Piece fighting game as their brand new IP to have 2D sprites that resemble Skullgirls' art style, which is great. They are also opening a new Tokyo studio for their third original fighting game to join Guilty Gear and BlazBlue. It shows that Arc System Works is not getting out of their comfort zone during ongoing support on Guilty Gear Strive since it's gonna strengthen development.

With Arc System Works' help, Riot will be able sustain player engagement, revive most of the comms, put competitive events in their own league circuit and explore the possibility of confirming Malcolm Graves, Twisted Fate, Zed, Leona, Veigar, Lucian, Camille, Garen, Vayne, Sona, Miss Fortune, Gangplank and everyone else in a giant pile of legendary characters! Again, no slant on 2XKO ending active development at 18 characters. It's a decent even number of characters in a 2v2 tag fighter. It's an outcome I refuse to reject. You should accept it.

Losing 2XKO in favor of Marvel Tokon getting long-term support, you can compare it to that one part I have experienced in Mega Man X: Command Mission, losing Spider in favor of Zero's sustainability with the party. Now, this is where you'll might say, "Wow, 2XKO feels different." Yes, it will feel different. It'll be a good difference for when Riot licensed 2XKO's development cycle to Arc System Works. That's one thing we can chase for.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2XKO 2026 Characters Theory (UPDATE 5)

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

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

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

Fourth Ionian:

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

18th Character:

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

Planned Duo of Sett and Lux:

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

Double Boxer Synergy:

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

Boxer and Kicker Duo:

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

Final roster:

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

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

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

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

Final SEGA side:

Ahri
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Samira
Sett
Thresh
Warwick

Final Capcom side:

Akali
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Lux
Senna
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo

Final key points:

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

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

Where we stand now, this is the final update as we're less than two months away from 2XKO's development conclusion at 18 characters. But listen, I don't want to put a slant on 2XKO ending active development at 18 characters. 18 is actually good on a 2v2 tag fighter. Seeing Sett on his way must have driven me to still play 2XKO. I have a small spark of hope, but it's put out because a League of Legends MMO is in the works. But it came back because I have thought of something that hit me. I have said that there is still hope, so here it is.

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

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

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

It's gonna have a part where a duo cosplays as Miss Fortune and Gangplank and travels to Los Angeles for Miss Fortune to point a pistol at their heads and for Gangplank to rob and pillage the studio to force them to do it to serve as a hypothetical teaser of Miss Fortune and Gangplank as the next two characters for a hypothetical Arc System Works era of 2XKO to expand the roster to 20 and these are the two characters I'm going to choose. Riot may be the perfect licensor to Arc System Works to continue active development of 2XKO. This is something that I want to go into detail in a future post where I go over the key benefits to 2XKO continuing active development under Arc System Works as a licensee in association with Riot Games. Stay tuned.