Less than a year after its January release, Riot Games has announced it is ending active development on its free-to-play League of Legends fighting game 2XKO due to unsustainable operating costs. Riot Games has officially announced that it will conclude active development on 2XKO, its free-to-play 2v2 tag fighting game set in the League of Legends universe, by December 2026. The decision comes less than a year after the game's full launch in January 2026. According to the studio, player retention and engagement metrics remained relatively flat despite content updates, leading to operating costs that substantially exceeded incoming revenue. 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. Servers Remain Online and Full Refunds Issued While new feature production is winding down, 2XKO will remain playable both online and offline across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S beyond 2026. In an unprecedented move, Riot Games has disabled the purchase of in-game KO Points and is issuing full refunds for all microtransaction and edition purchases made on or before August 20. Refunds are expected to process to original payment methods across PC and console storefronts over the coming weeks, with most concluding by November 2026. Final Content Roadmap and System Changes Riot outlined the final patch cycle scheduled to roll out through the end of the year: Patch 1.3.1 (September 8): Unlocks all champions for free across all player accounts, removes Ranked lobbies in favor of streamlined Casual matchmaking, introduces voice chat and 40-player support to Private lobbies, and adds new champion Lux. Patch 1.3.3 (October): Introduces the final champion, Samira, and marks the last major content release for the title. Cosmetic Ultimate Bundle: A consolidated package priced at $39.99 / £33.99 / €39.99 will launch to grant access to all previously released cosmetic items. Patch 1.3.5 (December): Concludes active development with general stability improvements and bug fixes. A Challenging Market for Fighting Games 2XKO initially began development nearly a decade ago under the codename Project L following Riot's acquisition of Radiant Entertainment. However, early signs of trouble emerged shortly after launch when Riot cut approximately 80 development roles on the project. The sunsetting highlights broader challenges across the contemporary fighting game landscape, where live-service and free-to-play entries have struggled to sustain mainstream engagement alongside dominant legacy giants like Capcom's Street Fighter 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyK3lFtz2H8
