2XKO Devs On The Long Road To Release
Riot Games' upcoming fighting game, 2XKO, is finally gearing up for its closed beta testing on September 9th, but its journey to this point has spanned nearly a decade. While the game was officially unveiled as 2XKO in February 2024, its story began much earlier, leading to a long wait for dedicated fans.
The roots of 2XKO trace back to 2016 when Riot Games acquired Radiant Entertainment, the studio behind the unique fighting game Rising Thunder. Whispers of Riot developing its own fighting game began circulating then. In 2019, the company formally showcased the project under the codename 'Project L.' At that time, it was envisioned as a one-on-one fighter. However, the concept later underwent a complete overhaul, evolving into its current two-on-two tag-team format.
Hardcore fighting game enthusiasts have essentially been following the project for six to nine years, leading to a build-up of frustration within the community over the prolonged development. Speaking with Eurogamer at Evo 2025, Executive Producer Tom Cannon and Game Director Shaun Rivera acknowledged that the initial announcement was premature, yet they expressed no regrets.
Tom Cannon acknowledged the early reveal came with a cost. "I'm not sure I would change that decision," he stated. "Of course, there was a price to pay. Gamers started a countdown in their heads – there are various memes about nine years of development. In reality, when we first showed everything, we were deep in research and development. But we needed player reaction to the announcement to get the push and inspiration to create something… special and unusual. If we hadn't done that, I'm not sure we would have ended up with this game. Yes, there were costs, but when we showed it, we carefully watched the reaction of fighting game fans. People would say, 'Wow, that looks interesting, I want to try it.' We wanted them to literally jump out of their seats! But that wasn't the effect, so we had to work harder and go back to refining."
Shaun Rivera added that the development team wasn't composed of veterans with decades of fighting game experience and learned on the fly. "Our team hasn't spent decades creating fighting games. We're learning as we go. One of the things I really like about working at Riot – I recently celebrated my 13th anniversary at the company – is that they really encourage all developers to talk with gamers. When I recall playing fighting games myself many years ago, I wanted to know what the creators thought."
While plenty of information about 2XKO is available now, the project's early days were marked by scarce teasers separated by long periods of silence. Rivera believes the only way to manage this perception is by "ultimately showing the game to gamers and continuing to improve it over time." He also explained the early expectations. "Honestly, after the acquisition of Radiant, many talented people who worked on Rising Thunder joined the team – including Tom and Tony, who are still with us now. We're sitting at Evo, right? As soon as people hear that, they immediately ask, 'Cool, so when's the fighting game?' The first 1v1 version, which was tested before I joined, seemed cool, but it didn't quite reach the required level."
2XKO is set to launch on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 before the end of 2025. The developers' candid comments highlight their commitment to player feedback and the iterative nature of modern game development, even if it means a longer wait for fans.
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