Riot is ending development on its League of Legends fighting game

# Riot is ending development on its League of Legends fighting game Source: [https://www.theverge.com/games/982986/riot-games-league-of-legends-fighting-game-2xko-end-development](https://www.theverge.com/games/982986/riot-games-league-of-legends-fighting-game-2xko-end-development) [](https://www.theverge.com/authors/jay-peters) Jay Peters is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more\. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme\. Riot Games is already winding down work on*2XKO*, the free\-to\-play*League of Legends*fighting game, less than a year after its initial launch\.[Riot says](https://www.riotgames.com/en/news/2xko-active-development-ends-december-2026)“active development” will conclude at the end of 2026 because the company hasn’t “seen enough players stick with the game to get to a path toward sustainability\.” Servers will stay online “beyond 2026,” and Riot is unlocking all playable characters and refunding money spent on the game\. *2XKO*launched in an early access beta on PC in October 2025 and hit PS5 and Xbox Series X / S[in January](https://www.theverge.com/news/856610/riots-free-fighting-game-launches-on-consoles-soon)\. But shortly after, Riot announced it would be[cutting staff working on the game](https://www.theverge.com/games/876038/riot-games-2xko-layoffs-job-cuts-league-of-legends), saying at the time that “overall momentum hasn’t reached the level needed to support a team of this size long term\.” It seems like things never turned a corner\. Riot says in its Thursday announcement that it evaluated the game’s overall performance through the year, and while there were some bright spots with new character releases and competitive events, it wasn’t enough to keep the game going\. “Even in these highlight moments, however, we saw no meaningful, sustained change in*2XKO*’s trajectory; only a fraction of what it would take to trend toward sustainability,” Riot says\. “Over time it became clear it would be impossible for us to continue actively developing the game as we are today\.” Riot says it would have continued development if “we saw any viable future,” but notes that “*2XKO*costs us substantially more to operate than it brings in, and engagement has stayed relatively flat despite our larger updates\.” *2XKO*is just the latest big live service bet that hasn’t panned out\. Just this week,[*Bloomberg*reported](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-19/playstation-reboots-horizon-hunters-gathering-as-live-service-strategy-struggles)that Sony is stripping live service elements from its in\-development multiplayer*Horizon*title\.*Highguard*, following its closing announcement at December’s Game Awards, permanently shut down[less than two months after launch](https://www.theverge.com/games/880206/highguard-shut-down)\. Earlier this year, Remedy announced[a final major update for*FBC: Firebreak*](https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/896278/fbc-firebreak-last-update-remedy), its live service shooter set in the*Control*universe — though like Riot’s plan for*2XKO*, Remedy has chosen to keep*Firebreak*online\. Even*Fortnite*isn’t immune to problems, as developer Epic Games[laid off staff in March](https://www.theverge.com/games/899529/epic-games-layoffs-fortnite)following a “downturn in*Fortnite*engagement\.” **Follow topics and authors**from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates\. - Jay Peters