Riot Games has confirmed that "2XKO," its tag team fighting game set within the "League of Legends" universe, will stop receiving active development before the year is over.
The announcement lands less than a year after the free-to-play title officially launched, marking a swift end for one of Riot's most ambitious pushes into a new genre.
'2XKO' Active Development Is Ending Later This Year
Riot detailed its decision through an official post on the game's website, explaining that "2XKO's" active development will conclude at the end of 2026.
According to the studio, months of monitoring the game's trajectory painted a clear and consistent picture, since a lot of players tried the game and an incredible community continued playing daily, but not enough people stuck around long enough to put the title on a sustainable path.
Riot was direct about the financial reality behind the decision, stating the game costs substantially more to operate than it brings in, with engagement staying relatively flat even after larger content updates.
The studio said it considered other options first, including reducing team size further, adjusting the patch schedule, or changing the business model entirely.
However, the team ultimately concluded that finishing the remaining work-in-progress content and sunsetting active development was the best route forward for both players and Riot employees.
Riot Games Is Giving Fans a Chance to Enjoy '2XKO'
Rather than shutting everything down immediately, Riot is spending the rest of 2026 delivering content it had already been working on. Two previously teased champions are still set to arrive, with Lux launching in September following her earlier reveal at Evo 2026, and Samira following as the game's final champion in October, arriving alongside what Riot is calling its final major content patch.
On September 8, Riot is unlocking every champion in the roster for all players, giving everyone free access to the full cast regardless of what they had previously purchased.
The studio also confirmed it is refunding all money spent in "2XKO" on or before August 20, and most cosmetic items are being bundled together, with a final $40 bundle covering all previously released cosmetic content set to release around the same time.
What Happens to '2XKO' After December 2026
Once active development officially wraps up in December with a final bug fix patch, "2XKO" will not disappear entirely. Riot confirmed that servers will remain online beyond 2026, keeping the game fully playable across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, with offline play remaining completely unaffected by the shutdown of active development.
The "2XKO" Competitive Series itself will wrap up in November, though Riot says it will continue supporting prize pools for its remaining Major and Challenger events through that point. This also means that tournament organizers will still be able to run their own community events after 2026 concludes.
This decision follows a rockier stretch for "2XKO" that included Riot laying off roughly half of its development team back in February, just weeks after the game's console launch.
That said, when player retention numbers failed to match the studio's expectations for supporting a team of that size long-term, came the end of the game's active development.
