2XKO won’t make it past 2027: Esports Insider debates

2XKO is in a weird spot right now. It’s in the midst of the stage where it should be growing, with Evo Las Vegas and other big tournaments on the way and an esports scene forming with Riot’s help. On the other hand, Riot has laid off a chunk of the team, and the latest update was pretty controversial and sloppy.

With 2XKO struggling to hold attention and make money, can this title carve out its spot in the FGC, or is it going to fade off by 2028? Esports Insider’s writers are about to have a 1v1 on the matter, and it’s up to you to decide who took the KO.

In my opinion, 2XKO is going to stick around for a very long time because it offers something other traditional fighting games don’t: doubles. Sure, there is an argument to be had with Super Smash Bros. Melee or Ultimate having their own doubles bracket, but 2XKO’s default format is mixed, which means that in one bracket, duos and solos duke it out to the very end.

Now, this might seem like it’s unfair for the solo players, but for some magical reason, the 2XKO developers were able to balance the game in such a way that the two playstyles are viable and can win tournaments.

The doubles playstyle was unpopular with the game’s competitive community, and the developers foresaw this. So, they launched something called the Duo Bounty, where the highest placing duo in certain tournaments will earn a cash prize, no matter if they won the whole tournament or not. This initiative has given birth to duos such as Dominique “SonicFox” McLean and Lenwood “INZEM” Arnold, as well as the twins Haru and Toshi from Japan.

The fighting game community is used to playing solo, and 2XKO offers a new way to play their favorite genre. Outside of tournaments, doubles is just plain fun. The added layer of coordination between you and your duo is a rewarding minigame that adds more excitement when you hit the combo the two of you have been practicing in the training room.

Aside from the duos aspect of the game, 2XKO is the only tag fighter that’s still being supported by its developers, and there’s a huge lack of it in the current competitive landscape of fighting games. Sure, tournaments still include games such as Marvel vs. Capcom 2 or Ultimate 3, but they’re usually side events. 2XKO, on the other hand, has the potential to be included in the main stage of huge tournaments such as EVO and maybe even the Esports World Cup with its current trajectory.

I’ve yapped about this a lot, but this time I have my colleague ready to defend 2XKO in a heated debate over the viability of Riot’s 2v2 fighting game. I’m on the side that’s negative (surprise!) and believe 2XKO won’t make it past 2027. 

The first issue is that 2XKO wasn’t designed for a niche fighting game community in mind. Well, it was, but Riot didn’t want it to be. That clash will lead to its demise. 

Riot announced 2XKO back in February 2024, known as “Project L.” It’s a 2v2 fighter that uses popular champions from League of Legends, which appeared to be the biggest selling point. However, Riot assembled a team of fighting game experts to ensure the game would be competitive and exciting for the FGC. 

The issue? This team consisted of long-time FGC veterans, and the gameplay reflected it. The game started off highly complex and overwhelming. The devs had to simplify it later. This is a high-IQ fighting game that’s a lot more mechanical and convoluted than a game like Street Fighter 6. Casuals couldn’t connect with it. In 2XKO’s early days, it was largely touted by big-name pros like SonicFox and William “Leffen” Hjelte. 

The game quickly grew a small following who liked to watch the esport more than grind the game. The popular pros headlining early events definitely helped. Meanwhile, however, 2XKO was just not welcoming to anyone who wasn’t planning to grind away. And Riot doesn’t have any need for a game that’s not being played (or making money). 

Early on, 2XKO faced significant backlash. The roster was pretty small, and it seemed like Riot was more concerned with adding hype League of Legends picks than choosing champions with fighting game-worthy kits. Or maybe Riot was more focused on skins. The game was filled with cosmetics right away, but they were all extremely expensive. 

Fighting game fans don’t buy skins. That’s not part of the culture. And they’re broke. Nobody is gonna pay nearly $100 for a skin. Again, Riot was focused on the wrong things. This time, it was detrimental to the 2XKO team. The game didn’t perform as expected, causing Riot to lay off a large chunk of the 2XKO devs. 

But I’ve always asked: What did Riot expect? It wasn’t going to be as big as VALORANT or League of Legends. It’s a fighting game. However, I think Riot thought it would transcend this, which is why they invested so much on extra devs they later had to let go. 

But 2XKO was never built to be more than a niche fighting game. Not only are fighting games niche as is (in the sense that they will never reach the viewership or player count levels of a MOBA or shooter), but 2XKO is a niche title within the genre. It’s complex and stressful, it’s not casual friendly.

Riot won’t share player numbers, but 2XKO is likely not getting enough players to survive. The average viewership on Twitch? Just 389… The engagement isn’t there. It’s also fallen off the download charts. It’s not unheard of for a fighting game, but it’s unheard of for Riot, and that’s the problem. 

Riot banked on the game being massive. That’s the issue. If Riot was fine with 2XKO being a niche fighting game, I think it has accomplished that. It’s at Evo, Frosty… The rivalries are growing. The storylines are getting interesting. The new-gen players are wild to watch. 

But I don’t see Riot spending money on a game with only a few thousand players max. Especially since it already admitted 2XKO wasn’t performing as expected and cut the team. The corny promotional stuff and overpriced skins show you that Riot was planning for another big title like VALORANT. It thought it could break free of the FGC stereotypes and have a mainstream hit. 

But it’s not. 

Even if 2XKO continues to have a small fanbase like Guilty Gear -Strive- going into 2027, I don’t think Riot wants anything to do with it. I don’t think Riot would pour money into it. Riot isn’t a company known for its passion. It’s a company known for building massive games with massive fanbases. Riot wants money. The FGC doesn’t make money. There’s only so long that it will bother with it. 

2XKO is doomed.

While I do agree with some of the points, I feel like we’re overlooking various factors of the game’s survival. So first! While Twitch numbers are decaying, that doesn’t mean that the game is dying! Games like Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves have atrocious viewership on Twitch, much more than 2XKO, actually! But those games still racked up a lot of entrants at Evo Japan 2026. While Twitch numbers provide an easy way to gauge interest, they’re not a clear indication of the game’s current player base.

Speaking of population, at the start of this year, Frosty Faustings, a fighting game tournament held in Illinois, had a whopping 962 entrants for 2XKO. The next big tournament was Evo Japan 2026, and that had 428 total entrants! This is still pretty huge for a game that’s still finding its footing in the FGC. If there’s one problem I have in here, it’s that the game’s presence outside North America has largely been ignored. I feel like the game’s marketing team put too much focus on NA and kinda forgot about other regions like mine, which is Asia.

This doesn’t mean that there are no players here, though! A lot of strong players, such as Naoki “Ikoan” Izumi and the previously mentioned twins, Haru and Toshi, play on this server and are proving to be formidable opponents, with Ikoan even reaching the top eight at Evo Japan 2026.

Regarding the game’s profitability, it’s true, we’re broke, and we don’t really buy skins. But the main reason we’re broke is probably the various sticks, leverless, and a whole lot of other external things we bought. Not to mention, things like lever modifications and buttons can balloon a player’s expenditure if they let themselves go. But that story’s for another time. Back to the topic at hand! There was indeed a large layoff a few weeks after 2XKO’s release, but the developers remain fully committed to continuing the game’s development, as evidenced by recent updates.

Even if Riot Games abandons the game’s development, the company has shown it’s still willing to support it, even if it’s just in maintenance mode. This is what they did with Legends of Runeterra. Riot stopped support for the game’s PvP, but continued updating its PvE mechanics. To translate this to 2XKO, the developers can simply stop doing champion balance updates, and the FGC will simply treat this as any other fighting game that doesn’t have developer support anymore. Games like Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 still have active player bases enough to hold regular tournaments. Now, before you say that those games are only alive because of nostalgia, they were once the new kids on the block, and who’s to say that 2XKO won’t have the same treatment in the distant future?

2XKO is in a good position and is receiving strong support from fighting game players due to the developer’s commitment to supporting local communities. Not only does Riot provide in-game cosmetics and currency, but the studio also provides money to add to some of the major tournaments’ prize pools! While we all know that prize money isn’t everything to fighting game players, Riot’s support for these tournaments is unheard of in the recent landscape of fighting games. If Riot continues this, the game will be a staple in no time.

Let’s face it, it’s true. Tag fighters aren’t that popular anymore in the current lineup of fighting games. 2XKO might not reach the heights of what Street Fighter 6 is doing in Japan, but the game is here to stay. It’s not going anywhere. Whether Riot continues its development or not is up to them, but I sincerely believe that since 2XKO is being made by veterans of the fighting game community, they are fighting behind the scenes to deliver an experience that we can only find here.

So, let’s address the elephant in the room: doubles is not gonna happen. I previously wrote that Riot should focus on doubles if it wants to save the game from dying. I agree that it would give it a niche that would stand out in the FGC.

However, it’s clear at this point that the pro players don’t really want to prioritize duos, especially since Riot handled that pivot so poorly. Teamfight, the newest fuse, has top players up in arms over how overpowered it is. And instead of inspiring duos, it made them want to ban the fuse in solo tourneys.

So while I agree that going doubles would make 2XKO stand out, I don’t think the community will allow it. The FGC is notoriously passionate about 1v1, a showcase of skill, grit, passion, determination… The tension and salt are what keep players watching. Doubles takes some of that raw intensity away.

Onto the number of players… Did you notice the massive drop between Frosty and Evo Japan? You just sorta handed that to me on a platter, so thanks for that! Japan is clearly not the market for 2XKO, so we will have to see how it goes in Evo Las Vegas, but early numbers show it’s even lower than Tekken 8, which is already seeing a huge decline. When we see the exact numbers, I think it will not be too impressive. This is all speculation, however, and I can’t say just yet.

As you said, they couldn’t even be bothered with Asia, and their one region of choice – North America – is losing interest. Where does it go from here?

You say that Riot is dedicated to maintaining and updating the game. I mean, sure. But did you see the latest update? Not only was Teamfight horribly unbalanced and not ready for release, but the animation scene that came with it was horrendous. It’s clear that the smaller team can’t maintain the same quality, even though I believe they are trying.

And as the game continues to get sloppier, that guarantees even fewer players sticking around. Nobody wants to play a game that feels uncared for, unbalanced, and frustrating to play. Just look at Tekken 8 after Season 2. If the updates continue to be this sloppy, I think it’s doing more harm than good.

And do I think Riot will keep it alive? Maybe for a little bit. Maybe a few years. You said it yourself: It only keeps its other failing esports titles alive for nostalgia.

But even then, it eventually kills them. 2XKO is next.