Riot Games to end LoL fighting game 2XK0's development and issue refunds, less than a year since launch

Key Points:

• Riot Games will end active development on its free-to-play fighting game 2XKO in December, less than a year after its full release in January, due to unsustainable revenue and player engagement.
• The final patch is scheduled for October, with all in-game purchases made before August 20th refunded by November, and servers will remain online indefinitely.
• Major upcoming content, including new characters Lux and Samira, will still be released, and all characters will be unlocked once development ends; ranked lobbies will be disabled, leaving only skill-based casual matchmaking.
• Despite aiming to solve key issues in the fighting game genre, 2XKO failed to retain a broad player base, appealing mainly to diehard tag fighter fans but not attracting wider fighting game audiences.
• Riot has not announced layoffs related to the end of development, though it previously cut about half of the 2XKO development team shortly after the game’s release; the project originated nearly a decade ago as Project L before its official 2019 reveal.