Riot Games lays off roughly half of its 2XKO development team despite the relative success of the free-to-play fighting game's launch

• Riot Games is expected to lay off 80 staff members from the 2XKO team
• Despite launch success, the game apparently underperformed by Riot's standards
• The game's 1.0 version has been live for just a few weeks

2XKO developer Riot Games is set to lay off a significant portion of the team that worked on the free-to-play tag fighting game.

In an update posted to the official Riot Games website, executive producer Tom Cannon detailed the motivation behind the decision.

"After a lot of discussion and reflection, we are reducing the size of the 2XKO team," he wrote.

"I want you to know that decision wasn’t made lightly. As we expanded from PC to console, we saw consistent trends in how players were engaging with 2XKO. The game has resonated with a passionate core audience, but overall momentum hasn’t reached the level needed to support a team of this size long term."

Per Kotaku, 80 employees are expected to face redundancy, which amounts to roughly half of the entire 2XKO development team. This is in spite of a relatively successful console launch. The game finally came to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S in January, following a lengthy early access period on PC.

During its console launch period, 2XKO became one of the most downloaded free-to-play titles of the month, beating out similarly free competitors like Marvel Rivals and Highguard.

Cannon rightly acknowledged that this news "will raise questions and concerns." He promised that updates will continue to be shared, and that 2XKO will continue to receive content.

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2XKO Season 1 2026 Launch Trailer - YouTube

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Ultimately, it's not a good look. 2XKO has already had its fair share of controversies of varying sizes. From its lengthy development period to launching with a pitifully small 11-character roster (for a 2v2 fighting game, no less), this latest news hasn't exactly inspired confidence in the player base.

"I cannot wait for 2XKO to never be in another fighting game tournament after this year," posted one user on Bluesky.

"I thought I was pretty cynical regarding Riot and 2XKO, but it turns out I wasn’t nearly cynical enough," wrote another.

The layoffs have been understandably devastating for some. "Ten years on 2XKO, 12 at Riot and I got laid off with 30 minutes notice lol. Gonna take some time," wrote one Bluesky user who seemingly worked on the project.

What makes this even more of a shame is that 2XKO has been, largely, positively received by its players. The usual free-to-play complaints are there regarding microtransactions and overall business model, of course, but the core game seems to be fun and engaging.

I could be flippant and say 2XKO's developers were punished for not immediately pulling in League of Legends or Teamfight Tactics numbers, but maybe there is a grain of truth to that.

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