Published: February 2026
Category: Tech Industry Developments · Gaming · Business
Riot Games has confirmed it is downsizing the development team behind 2XKO, its long anticipated League of Legends fighting game, just weeks after the title exited early access and launched fully on consoles.
In a statement released by Riot, the company said the free-to-play fighter, which launched on 21 January, has failed to generate enough sustained momentum to justify maintaining its current team size over the long term.
“After a lot of discussion and reflection, we are reducing the size of the 2XKO team,” said executive producer Tom Cannon. “The decision wasn’t made lightly.”
A strong core audience, but limited growth
According to Riot, player engagement data following the console launch showed a clear pattern. While 2XKO has attracted a dedicated and passionate core audience, overall growth and retention levels have not met expectations.
“As we expanded from PC to console, we saw consistent trends in how players were engaging with 2XKO,” Cannon explained. “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.”
Riot says the studio now plans to operate with a smaller, more focused team, allowing developers to concentrate on targeted improvements and long-requested features. The company has promised to share more details about upcoming changes in the near future.
Layoffs confirmed, scale remains unclear
The exact number of affected employees has not been disclosed. However, former 2XKO producer Patrick Miller claimed on social platform BlueSky that he was laid off with just 30 minutes’ notice, after working on the project in various forms for nearly a decade.
Riot acknowledged the impact on staff and said it is offering internal transfer opportunities where possible. For those unable to move into new roles, the company stated it will provide a minimum of six months’ notice pay and severance.
“The people who helped ship 2XKO poured years of creativity, care, and belief into this game,” Cannon said. “Taking creative risks like this is hard, and the work they did is real and meaningful.”
Competitive plans remain unchanged
Despite the downsizing, Riot insists that the future of 2XKO remains intact. Cannon said the studio’s plans for the 2026 Competitive Series have not been altered and that the game will continue to receive support.
“We understand that this raises questions about the future of 2XKO,” he said. “But our competitive plans for 2026 are unchanged.”
Another sign of industry pressure
The move adds to a growing list of post-launch restructurings across the games industry, where studios are increasingly reassessing long development cycles and ambitious live-service projects amid rising costs and shifting player expectations.
For Riot, 2XKO represented a major creative risk — expanding one of gaming’s most recognisable IPs into the crowded fighting-game space. While the title has not been cancelled, the downsizing highlights the challenges even established developers face when new projects fail to scale as expected.
Author. Adedoye Adigun