Riot Games sunsets active development on 2XKO as it costs "substantially more to operate than it brings in"

Riot Games will cease development of the free-to-play fighting game 2XKO in December, according to its latest announcement. The game's servers will stay operational past 2026, and the offline experience will not be impacted. 2XKO remains playable and free to download on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Following a review of the game's performance, Riot concluded that the cost of active development far outweighed the revenue generated, and player engagement remained stagnant despite major updates.

Although positive feedback was received for new characters, gameplay features, and competitive events, the trajectory of 2XKO did not show any meaningful, sustained improvement. Riot decided that continuing active development would be unsustainable, and the best course of action was to wrap up remaining work-in-progress content and sunset active development.

Three more patches will be released before the official end of development in December. Changes to 2XKO began on August 20, with the disabling of in-game currency purchases. Refunds for all purchases made on or before August 20 are underway, with the vast majority expected to be completed within two weeks and the remainder by November 2026.

Console players will receive refunds through their respective platforms and providers. Additional gameplay content will unlock with the September 1.3.1 patch, and a bundle containing most of the game's cosmetic items will be available for $39.99/£33.99/€39.99. Some items will be available for Credits, and Battle Passes, KO Points, Champion Tokens, seasons, and events will be removed to support long-term online experiences.

Ranked lobbies will be discontinued, and matchmaking in Casual lobbies will be simplified. Private lobbies will remain unchanged, with voice chat and a large map supporting up to 40 players added. The October 1.3.3 patch will introduce the final champion, Samira. The final major content patch, 1.3.5, will focus on bug fixes and will not introduce new content.

Riot acknowledges the difficulty of making this decision and expresses gratitude to the players, tournament organizers, competitors, and creators who supported 2XKO throughout its lifespan. The company remains committed to learning from the experience and improving its development approach for future projects in the fighting game genre.