Riot Games has announced that 2XKO, its 2v2 tag fighting game, will be sunset this year, with active development concluding at the end of 2026. The developer confirmed that a final patch is planned for December, and while servers will remain live to support online play, there will be no further updates once 2027 arrives.
In a lengthy statement, Riot Games said the “dream” behind 2XKO was to make a game that the fighting game community (FGC) “would love to play with their friends”. The studio admitted that “there’s no perfect way to handle a decision like this”.
Reasons for the shutdown
The statement read: “2XKO’s active development will conclude at the end of 2026. 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 Games added: “To be super clear: we would have continued active development if we saw any viable future, but 2XKO costs us substantially more to operate than it brings in, and engagement has stayed relatively flat despite our larger updates.”
Refunds and cosmetic unlocks
Riot Games confirmed that any money spent in-game on 2XKO, which is free-to-play, on or before August 20 would be refunded. All champions will be unlocked, and the studio announced its intention to bundle “most cosmetic items”, adding: “Any content owned is yours to keep. Avatar and player profile items will be unlockable for Credits.”
The statement continued: “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.”
Final 2026 roadmap
As of August 20, Riot Games disabled the ability to purchase KO Points. Remaining KP Point balances can be spent in the rotating store before the arrival of patch 1.3.1, which is due to land on September 8. On that date, the new champion - Lux, the Lady of Luminosity - will drop with the new update.
A purchasable bundle of all cosmetic content will be released for £33.99 ($39.99/€39.99) called the 2XKO Ultimate Bundle. It will contain all skins, skin chromas and taunts for every champion “up to and including” Lux, plus all currently released finishers.
Ranked lobbies will also be disabled from September 8, and the following live service aspects will be removed from the game: Battle Passes, KO Points, Champion Tokens, Seasons, and Events.
Samira, the Desert Rose, will be 2XKO’s final champion and is coming alongside patch 1.3.3 in October. The 2XKO Ultimate Bundle will be updated to include all remaining skins and cosmetics, and owners of the bundle will automatically receive the new items. Patch 1.3.3 will be the final major content drop for 2XKO, with one last patch focused on bug fixes in December with update 1.3.5.
Riot Games promises that the game will remain free to download on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The studio added: “We want to do right by the players who want to continue playing 2XKO, and deeply respect the love put into the game and the scene up to now. 2XKO remains online and playable, and we aren’t going anywhere yet.”
