Don’t expect a dozen sequels and spinoffs when it comes to 2XKO: The League of Legends-inspired fighting game has very much been designed to be a “forever” title rather than the start of a franchise.
While iconic fighting game series like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Tekken have each had as many as 40 releases and special editions, Riot Games has a much simpler plan for its latest genre entry—it will be a “forever fighting game” with regular updates and changes, new characters, and overhauls.
“There will never be a sequel,” the game’s director, Tom Cannon, declared on social media after the two-vs-two League fighter’s official name was revealed. 2XKO, which was called Project L from 2019 to today, will instead run the tried-and-true League and VALORANT playbooks built around semi-regular balance changes and sweeping title overhauls tied to new seasons. “Our goal is to make a game that just gets better and better over time,” Cannon added.
In League and VALORANT that usually means new characters and weapons (or items) are added each year. League gets biweekly updates and up to half a dozen new champions a season, while VALORANT fans can get their hands on new debutants once or twice an episode. Riot’s hero shooter also gets fresh battlefields, though they come at a slower rate. For 2XKO, things shouldn’t be too different, with the fighting game format perfectly lending itself to roster debuts. Whereas other battlers often refresh rosters between releases, Cannon expects Riot’s venture to “evolve over time”—with new content and mechanics the biggest focus.
This idea of live rosters is something that has been popping up more and more in fighting game development this decade too. It has been reasonably successful when bundled as DLC like in King of Fighters and Guilty Gear Strive and mega releases like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat now follow a similar pattern too. MultiVersus—which is rereleasing this year—also has a regularly updated lineup.
At the very least, Riot’s fighting game will launch with several ready-to-go characters from the League universe, including Ahri, Darius, Ekko, Illaoi, Jinx, Katarina, and Yasuo. Cannon and his brother Tony will likely reveal more of the 2XKO starting roster between now and the title’s release next year.
2XKO is expected to hit PlayStation, Xbox, and PC in 2025. Early gameplay playtests are expected to be available online and at EVO Japan later this year.
