Riot Co-Founder Says 2XKO Wasn't a Mistake but a Tough Sell
"What we're doing is competing for people's attention and time, and that's a really high bar..."
Riot Games
2XKO is a free-to-play 2v2 tag-team fighting game that is set in the League of Legends universe, and at first, the game was well received when it was fully released in January 2026, but the problem became apparent when players' attention began to decrease.
Later, in February 2026, it was reported that Riot had laid off around 80 employees from the 2XKO team because, according to the company, it noticed that the game "has resonated with a passionate core audience, but overall momentum hasn't reached the level needed to support a team of this size long term."
Then, in August 2026, Riot announced that 2XKO's active development will end in December 2026. The company said it was monitoring the game's trajectory closely, and even though some people play every day, it wasn't enough to sustain the game long-term; it clarified that servers will remain beyond 2026, and the game will be playable on all platforms.
During a panel at PAX West in September 2026, Riot Co-Founder Marc Merrill talked about what happened with 2XKO, saying he didn't see the game as a mistake, but it was hard for it to succeed when the market is very competitive.
"What we're doing is competing for people's attention and time, and that's a really high bar, and you have to get so many things right to get enough critical mass to build the community and really have it turn into something that can be sustainable over the long term. And 2XKO, unfortunately, um, didn't do that," said Merrill.
He also added that this wouldn't stop Riot from taking risks, and said that the League of Legends MMO's future is "incredibly bright", but the gamer community is still skeptical about the MMO, especially after what happened with 2XKO.
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