Riot Stops Active Development on 2XKO This December

Riot Games says in a blog post that it will end active development on 2XKO in December 2026, while keeping the game's servers online and shipping a final round of content and fixes before support winds down. The studio is also unlocking all champions, bundling most cosmetics, refunding money spent on the game on or before August 20, and disabling new KO Point purchases.

2XKO launched as Riot's free-to-play tag-team fighter set in the League of Legends universe, but the company said player retention never reached a sustainable level. In its statement, Riot wrote, "Over the last few months, we've been monitoring 2XKO's trajectory closely, and what we've seen is painting a clear, consistent picture: while a lot of you jumped in to try the game and there's an incredible community that plays every day, we haven't seen enough players stick with the game to get to a path toward sustainability."

Riot did not give a specific December date for the end of active development, but it said the game will not be shut down. Online play will remain available after December, and offline play will not be affected. Between now and the final bug-fix patch in December, Riot plans to add two more champions, Lux and Samira, along with feature improvements.

The studio is also changing how players access the remaining content. All champions will be unlocked, most cosmetic items will be bundled, and avatar and player profile items will become unlockable with credits once a September patch goes live. Riot said previously purchased content is "yours to keep," even as the game moves toward maintenance mode.

For players who spent money on 2XKO, Riot is offering refunds for purchases made on or before August 20. At the same time, KO Point purchases have been disabled, which draws a clear line under the game's monetization as the studio prepares to stop regular development.

Riot framed the decision as the result of several months of internal review. In the same statement, the company said it considered other paths, including reducing headcount and changing the business model, before deciding to sunset active development. Riot wrote, "Our goal now is to do right by the players who have invested in us so far and want to continue playing 2XKO, as well as the Rioters who have poured everything into delivering on this dream."

The end of active development closes a long road for a project that started life in 2019 as Project L. The fighter grew out of ideas associated with Rising Thunder, a game built around accessibility in a genre that often struggles to bring in new players. 2XKO entered PC early access in September 2025, then reached version 1.0 and launched on consoles on January 20.

Its commercial problems showed up quickly after full release. Riot cut 80 jobs, about half of the 2XKO team, just weeks after launch, and at the time pointed to the same core issue now cited in the shutdown notice: the game was not holding enough players. That makes this latest announcement less a sudden reversal than the final step in a decline Riot has now described in unusually direct terms.

For fighting game players, the practical takeaway is straightforward. 2XKO will keep running, it will still receive a few meaningful additions before December, and anyone curious about Riot's take on a tag-team fighter will still have time to try it with the full roster unlocked.