2XKO Was Doomed from the Start: Riot Games Admits the Fighting Game Needed Millions of Players to Turn a Profit

2XKO has gone down as one of the most stunning misfires in modern fighting game history, particularly given the massive, built-in community Riot Games fully expected it to capture.

On August 20, 2026, the studio announced that active development will conclude in December 2026. While the servers will remain online for existing players, Riot acknowledged that the title became completely unsustainable due to underwhelming active user counts and lackluster paid DLC revenue.

As such, Riot co-founder Marc Merrill broke his silence and spoke about the project’s many issues. According to Merrill, 2XKO demanded player retention metrics on par with the studio’s premier flagship titles.

2XKO Did Not Reach Minimum Expectations

Appearing on the Lemonade Stand podcast, Merrill addressed the high expectations that Riot Games had for 2XKO and the number of players to make the company’s investment worth it.

Because of the massive team assembled for the game, Riot required a significantly larger audience than what materialized and this is what triggered the sudden downsizing of the development team just months after launch.

Merrill revealed that sustaining the project long-term required “hundreds of thousands, if not millions of players.” The challenge, he noted, went far beyond simple community engagement as it was about supporting the infrastructure needed to fund a massive, dedicated development studio.

Issues with 2XKO traced all the way back to the project’s early days under the moniker Project L, plagued by shifting creative visions and frequent changes in leadership.

These leadership shakeups created internal friction that delayed the game’s release by several years.

Accepting partial responsibility as a leader in Riot Games, Merrill admitted the game simply arrived too late in a rapidly evolving genre.

Street Fighter 6 Changed 2XKO’s Fate

Reflecting on the competitive landscape, Merrill pointed to the 2023 launch of Street Fighter 6 as a pivotal turning point that forced Riot to completely abandon its original entry strategy.

The critical and commercial success of Capcom’s flagship title electrified the fighting game community and raised the industry standard. Merrill noted that had 2XKO launched a few years earlier, it could have capitalized on that same market surge.

Despite the hurdles, Riot ultimately chose to launch 2XKO. The team had invested years in this project and, according to Merrill, they had built a game they had been proud of.

What do you think about these statements? Did you ever play 2XKO?? Share your thoughts in the comments below.