Riot Games will end active development on 2XKO in December 2026, less than a year after its January console launch. The free-to-play fighting game will stay online on PC and consoles, and offline play will continue, but Riot will stop making major new content after October.
though active development is ending, the 2XKO team is still here through the end of 2026. our goal now is to do right by the players that have invested in us. https://t.co/RqkNFtQoiX
— 2XKO (@Play2XKO) August 20, 2026
2XKO brought in plenty of players willing to try the game even in beta, but failed to retain enough of them to support continued development. Riot Games stated that the company has evaluated retention, new players, engagement, and revenue throughout 2026, but sadly saw no sustained improvement after Akali, Senna, Thresh, PvE mode The Climb, or major competitive events. They say the game now costs substantially more to operate than it generates.
The first signs of trouble appeared when Riot reduced the 2XKO development team in February, only weeks after the console release. The game had found a dedicated core audience, but overall momentum could not support the original team size. Riot kept the 2026 Competitive Series intact while the smaller team continued development.
More than 1,500 community tournaments were created during 2XKO’s PC early-access period, showing that it had found a competitive audience even before the console release. Its free-to-play model required a much larger recurring population to support regular champions, cosmetics, events, and updates, as well as the network maintenance costs, as the game was routed through dedicated servers.
The company stated that they considered further staff reductions, slower patches, and changes to the business model before deciding to end active development.
Players will get refunds for KO Points and the 2XKO Starter Edition purchased on or before Aug. 20 while keeping the content they bought. KO Point sales have already been disabled, and PC refunds should mostly be distributed within two weeks and completed by November. Console refunds will be processed through PlayStation and Xbox.
Patch 1.3.1 releases on Sept. 8 with Lux and unlocks every champion for all players. Riot will also remove Battle Passes, KO Points, Champion Tokens, seasons, events, and Ranked mode. Casual matchmaking will continue with skill-based matching in a single pool per server, while private lobbies will gain voice chat and support for up to 40 players.
Samira will be 2XKO’s final champion when Patch 1.3.3 releases in October. The patch will also complete a $39.99 Ultimate Bundle containing nearly every skin, chroma, taunt, and finisher released for the game. They may also release Patch 1.3.5 in December for bug fixes, but it will contain no major new content.
The official 2XKO Competitive Series will finish in November, with Riot continuing prize pool support for its remaining Major and Challenger events. Tournament organizers can keep running community events after 2026, and Riot has not announced a server shutdown date. The development team will return to Riot’s R&D group after finishing its remaining work, and it’s unknown if any layoffs are planned.
