2XKO still exists, and it has some big plans for 2026. I’m just not sure it’s enough to rebuild all the hype it has lost.
On X, developers wrote: “We’re adding another champion to our schedule, for a total of six new champs releasing this year. We’re also adding a new fuse plus a way to find duo partners in-game next month. Lots to come, thanks for being on the journey with us.”
However, it all seems like a drop in the bucket for a game that’s probably not going to make it past 2026.
Riot Did Everything Wrong With 2XKO
I don’t like to be the kind of person who says, “Dead game.” It’s a very overused insult in the gaming community and has actually led to the premature demise of games that couldn’t break the stigma, like Highguard. But the fighting game community is a different beast, and I think it’s about to eat 2XKO alive.
Riot Games has not really given 2XKO a fair chance from the start. This publisher is used to having massive success with games like League of Legends and VALORANT. Riot believed it could defy the usual fighting game fate because it’s such a popular IP, but that led devs to treat it all wrong.
Rather than focus on becoming big in the fighting game world, Riot wanted 2XKO to be big in the mainstream gaming world. It seemed to believe it would gain an audience much larger than most fighting games garner, and that it would somehow make a lot of money from skins. When those two things didn’t work, it laid off a huge amount of the 2XKO team.
While 2XKO has had its hype moments, it’s not even hitting well in the FGC at this point. I talked about this a bit over at Esports Insider, but there are not enough big names or storylines to make the esports scene consistently exciting to follow. Plus, the gameplay is overly complex and not friendly to anyone outside of 2XKO’s most competitive circle.
And Now Its 2026 Roadmap Is Too Late
Through it all, the remaining team has attempted to keep 2XKO alive. But even this latest roadmap doesn’t spark much hope in me.
The big news seems to be that there will be six new champions now rather than five. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s not going to build up a ton of hype or anything when nobody is even playing it to begin with. If you’re already not interested in playing 2XKO, I’m not sure what adding another League of Legends champion will do. It even starts to feel like a gimmick, similar to Marvel movies where they want us to scream: THAT’S THAT PERSON FROM THAT GAME I KNOW!
Meh.
The rest of 2XKO’s roadmap is pretty much the same old stuff we knew. There are some seasonal events and some upcoming tournaments, both of which we were already aware of. A new stage and a new fuse are also pretty whatever when we’re not playing. I barely understand fuses right now, so a new one won’t make me suddenly play this game.
I also see a small “more skins” text at the bottom of the roadmap. I can assure you that nobody cares about that. It almost sounds like a threat, if anything.
I think this is good news for those who already play 2XKO, of course. New stuff is never bad. However, I think it’ll be tough for 2XKO to grow at this point. I think it’s only held on this long because it’s Riot. Otherwise, I think it’d go the route of basically every fighting game there is.
I’m still convinced that 2XKO won’t last very long. It’s never going to make money, and Riot wants money. It’s not a small studio like the ones that passionately push to keep their obscure fighting games alive for the 100 people that watch.