Will Riot Games’ 2XKO become the next big competitive fighting game?

Riot Games has its work cut out for it with its debut into the fighting game world, as the 2XKO release date is scheduled sometime in 2025. While we’re still (likely) a fair few months away from rollout, everything we’ve seen from the alpha and beta tests over the last year or so has indicated that the title has some serious potential. 

Pulling on the company’s extensive and (arguably) iconic IP, combined with the corporate backing that has seen VALORANT become such a sweeping success, the floor is wide open for this tag team fighter to succeed. But will it become the next big competitive fighter? 

We’re going over everything there is to know about 2XKO’s roster, gameplay, and mechanics, as well as the FGC’s reaction to the title in its current state. 

Keep in mind, things will change, and are changing all the time, so how things are with the game now may be drastically different near release. The foundations are good, and the suite of characters is encouraging, but it’s yet to be seen whether this will be enough to dethrone some of the best fighting games on the market. Let’s find out and note that the following combines confirmed details and industry speculation. 

Formerly known as Project L, 2KXO is Riot Games’ upcoming 2v2 tag-team fighting game, which is set to come out sometime in 2025 for PC as well as Xbox Series X/S and PS5. 

It uses characters from the developers’ other work, League of Legends, with familiar characters confirmed for the roster, such as Ahri, Ekko, and Yasuo. However, it’s important to note that the game will pull from all aspects of the “Runeterra” universe, so we’ll see representation from the wider portfolio represented in the tag fighter. 

Essentially, 2XKO gameplay is akin to that of popular competitive fighters such as Marvel vs Capcom, Skullgirls, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, Tekken Tag Tournament, and Blazblue Cross Tag Battle. 

You’ll be (primarily) fighting one-on-one, but then you can call in another character for assists or combo extenders, which add a further dimension to the complexity of what you can pull off. 

A similar recent mainstream mechanic is available in Mortal Kombat 1 with its Kameo system, albeit to a lesser extent. 2XKO’s name is a call to that (double the knockouts), as the Point and the Assist fight on the playing space. 

If there’s one thing that can be said about Riot Games’ recent output, it’s how it can take a tried-and-true idea and then add a new spin which becomes massively popular. 

While the company impressed back in the day with League of Legends in the late 2000s, it has since iterated on the Counter-Strike formula with the hugely successful VALORANT and Legends of Runeterra, being inspired by the likes of Magic: The Gathering, eclipsing the appeal of the source material. 

While tag-team fighters are still somewhat popular, they’ve fallen by the wayside for the more standardised one-on-one fighters in the FGC, with current favourites being Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Guilty Gear Strive, and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves taking centre stage. 2XKO could be the thing that swings that. 

That’s not to say that tag fighters aren’t still keen on the rotation. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is confirmed for Evo 2025, a game that’s thrived in the FGC for nearly 25 years, but there hasn’t been much in the way of new blood for a long time. 

Based on the 2XKO playtests we’ve seen since the Alpha Lab first rolled out, Riot Games is looking to bring evolution and not revolution to the formula. 

The biggest thing about the release is the 2XKO roster. You only need to look as far as the announcement of 2XKO Jinx, as seen in the popular Netflix series Arcane, confirmed for release. 

The official trailer has already racked up over a million views. Besides the confirmed three characters – Ahri, Ekko, and Yasuo – there are also Darius, Braum, and Illaoi slated for the title, with many more expected to come as we get closer to the release window. 

The characters fit the traditional archetypes for a fighting game; Jinx is your zoner, Braum’s a tank, Illaoi’s more of a brawler with summons, and Ahri is more aerial and mobile. 

Animations play a huge part in conveying the smoothness of a fighting game, and that’s where 2XKO is shining. Just like with VALORANT and League of Legends, Riot Games’ fighter looks aesthetically distinct and incredibly slick, with its 3D backgrounds and 2D characters in a cel-shaded art style, similar to Guilty Gear Strive. It’s hard to judge being this (seemingly) so far off the 2XKO release date, as games like these live and die on their rosters and content that’s available out of the gate. 

With every Alpha Lab, closed beta, and 2XKO leak, we’re getting the picture painted for us about Riot Games’ upcoming fighter. Most recently, there’s been a new beta which has gone down surprisingly well in the eyes of the wider FGC. 

Popular fighting game player and commentator Rooflemonger praised the changes implemented while decrying the frustrating lobby system with so-so matchmaking. However, Maximilian Dood (with nearly two million subscribers) said that the game still doesn’t “click” for him yet, despite the second alpha feeling “better.” Specifically, he cited “mechanical issues” with the way the game was played, feeling “worse.” There have been good changes with connecting attacks now feeling faster, with a better game feel where it was previously spongy. 

Then we have to get the obvious out of the way. Riot Games has never made a fighter before. Its bread and butter has been with MOBAs, and while it had success with a tactical shooter, there is the worry that the company could be spreading itself too thin. 

Realistically, a genuine concern comes twofold: can the company pull this off, and (more importantly) will the infamously stalwart Fighting Game Community adopt a fighter like this that’s being built on the bones of previous IP from a studio that’s vacationing in its territory? That’s what remains to be seen. 

Everything we’ve seen from the gameplay of the 2XKO characters in motion has been encouraging. Still, with no set release date in sight and some kinks to work out in the alpha stage, it’s hard to gauge whether Riot Games’ fighter will catch on with audiences or whether it’ll debut and then wither away. 

Given the company’s stellar track record of iterating on tried-and-true ideas with VALORANT and Legends of Runeterra (combined with its recognisable IPs), there’s hope that the license and core gameplay could get it over the hill. However, we won’t fully know until the game’s out and being played by more people whether it will have a chance at thriving at Evo and other top-tier tournaments.