2XKO, the new fighting game set in the League of Legends universe, seems to already be in trouble based on a new update from Riot Games. This past month, 2XKO finally released across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC after having previously gone into early access in late 2025. This move finally brought about an end to the title’s lengthy development cycle, as the game was first unveiled as Project L all the way back in 2019. Unfortunately, Riot has now shared a new update on 2XKO, and it doesn’t seem to bode well moving forward.
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In a message posted on Riot’s website today, 2XKO executive producer Tom Cannon revealed that the development team of the game is being cut by a sizable amount. Cannon said that this move is being made after seeing “consistent trends” with how people were engaging with 2XKO following its launch. Some who are being removed from the 2XKO dev team are said to potentially be landing different jobs within Riot, while others who are being outright laid off will be granted six months of severance. As for how this will impact the game itself, Cannon said that this choice is being made to help 2XKO in the long-term.
“After a lot of discussion and reflection, we are reducing the size of the 2XKO team,” wrote Cannon. “I want you to know that [this] decision wasn’t made lightly. As we expanded from PC to console, we saw consistent trends in how players were engaging with 2XKO. The game has resonated with a passionate core audience, but overall momentum hasn’t reached the level needed to support a team of this size long term. With a smaller, focused team, we’re going to dig in and make key improvements to the game, including some of the things we’ve already heard you asking for. We’ll share some of our plans soon.”
“Ultimately, this decision reflects a shift in how we operate,” he continued. “This isn’t a judgment on individual Rioters or a signal that the journey is over. We’re reshaping the team to give 2XKO a more sustainable path forward.”
Riot Continues to Struggle
All in all, this is a pretty concerning move for Riot Games to make, especially so soon after the release of 2XKO. For this decision to have been made merely a few weeks out from launch suggests that player numbers for the LoL fighting game must be far beneath what Riot anticipated. Reviews for 2XKO haven’t been particularly impressive, either, which has likely made it that much more difficult for new players to want to jump in and give the game a shot.
2XKO is also the latest instance in the past few years where Riot has struggled to find its footing. While League of Legends remains quite popular (albeit less so than it once was) and Valorant is a major player in the shooter space, the company’s other endeavors have fallen flat. Riot Forge, the publishing label for projects from third-party studios, was shut down in 2024. Meanwhile, Hytale, which Riot acquired in 2020, was scrapped in 2025, only to later be revived and released without Riot to begin this year.
Despite having a hit-and-miss track record over the past few years, Riot continues to work with new genres and ideas as it looks to find its next major success. The much-anticipated League of Legends MMO is perhaps the biggest project on the horizon that Riot could stand to benefit greatly from, although it still seems to be years away from ever releasing.
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