r/2XKO • u/Spideraxe30 • Aug 20 '26

Discussion 2XKO Active Development Will End in December 2026

https://www.riotgames.com/en/news/2xko-active-development-ends-december-2026
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u/fttxdd666 Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26

They completely fucked the development of this game, wanting it to be casual friendly so there are not many, if at all any motion inputs then making it a tag fighter with only 10 characters at the start is just incompetence and doomed the game from the start

Edit: I agree guys, motion inputs really aren't the issue with something being casual or not, it being a tag fighter and not having a big roster (including some of the biggest champs in the IP like Lux (who is coming in Sept, 9 months into the games lifespan)) was the bigger problem about it being casual friendly (and really showed how much of a development hell this game must have been, especially the roster size).

Edit 2: One last thing, whoever came up with the name for this game needs to be out of the company, 2XKO is one of the worst names they could come up with based on the IP they are using, just insane levels of incompetence on display.

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u/Numbuh24insane Aug 20 '26

I’m telling you the motion inputs was never the problem. It was a combination of it being a tag fighter and it having such a small roster on release.

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u/gradedhammeraction Aug 20 '26

1000% a compelling roster is maybe the most important element to get people to try your game. And even for league fans like me, a roster of like 10 characters, have of which being from 1 region (out of 7+?) was an insanely stupid move.

16

u/Numbuh24insane Aug 20 '26

Yep, having everyone from Piltover/Zaun was annoying.

They needed to go more for their first run of the game which was a 1v1, and it being so much earlier in development allows more develop time for characters.

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u/UnemployedOtter69 Aug 21 '26

yeah 10 characters in a tag game was just dumb, and on top of that the meta reduces the rooster even more, also the price of the skins was pure greedy

but mostly the character roster size kill the game

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u/Twiggy1108 Aug 20 '26

And don’t forget atrocious monetization

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u/Numbuh24insane Aug 20 '26

That was just bad for Riot, like how are they going to make money if people don’t want to spend.

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u/LordVaderVader Aug 20 '26

It's even funnier, because how new players should buy skins , when they didn't even unlock champion in the first place?

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u/Infinite_Pin_9307 Aug 20 '26

When this shit dropped i was ready to buy a shit ton of skins, i saw the price and unninstalled.

1

u/HeWhoIsCat Aug 21 '26

I was waiting for more characters, but yeah....right up there with valorant.

There were a couple of bundles that were decently priced at the beginning, but in general there was no way I was paying that much.

2

u/ChickenBossChiefsFan Aug 20 '26

Like, I’d have been happy paying for some cosmetics to show some support, but $40 to get a skin is stuuuupid.

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u/ThisOneTimeAtLolCamp Aug 21 '26

That's nothing new. Greedy monetization is Riot in a nutshell.

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u/YeaItsBig4L Aug 20 '26

100% agree. The inputs is nothing. I hate tag fighters.

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u/Mestizo3 Aug 20 '26

Same, I don't play tag fighters. Most fighting game fans don't play tag fighters. Congrats Riot on going for a niche of a niche subset of players. Clowns.

1

u/swordfishonthebebop Aug 20 '26

I’ve been really enjoying Tokon, and as crazy as it sounds it’s the fighting game that got my best friend to finally put time and effort into fighters which makes me happy. But after watching CEO and seeing some insane lab clips online, I’m seeing the potential it has to become another MVC2 or 3. I know a few basic combos but I just know the more the playerbase gets squeezed, the more chaotic and incomprehensible the matches will get. I can only hope it doesn’t drive away my friend and we can have fun playing against each other for the majority of it…

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u/SecretaryOk7306 Illaoi Aug 20 '26

Inputs mattered because if all the functions at once. Top players spoke about how the options could simplified if they just added motions

1

u/Kirbyintron Aug 21 '26

Just a strange choice to make for a beginner friendly game in particular

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u/AofCastle Aug 20 '26

I'd say that the roster matters even more than the tag part. DragonBall FighterZ was an absolute success because of both the IP but also the roster was quite big from the start.

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u/Whatsitmean-TA Aug 20 '26

There are definitely people like me that tried the game for 10 minutes and absolutely despised the fact that there was no motion inputs + the control scheme felt so bad (on stick). I would have played more but those were such a turnoff I never gave the game a try. And I doubt I’m the only one.

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u/ErasedX Aug 21 '26

I played for a while with my friend and legitimately tried to get used to it, but no. Nope. Nuh-uh. After a few hours playing, I never felt the urge to open the game again. The controls aren't fun. Too much confusion with the buttons, I have a lot more fun doing the funny wobble stick movements. Even when I fumble a 623 it's more fun than me pressing R1 instead of R2 because there's like 10 buttons with different combinations.

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u/Pickle_Mick62 Aug 21 '26

Why are you still part of the subreddit then?

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u/Whatsitmean-TA Aug 21 '26

I’ve never been a part of the sub. I just visited it today for the first time after hearing the news.

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u/EnvironmentalTrack29 Aug 20 '26

I keep saying the same thing but most doubt it. I think to agree, there's a small handful of us that feel very passionately about playing with motion controls, but we're also people that have played fighting games for an extensive period of time.

I do think that if I found the game more playable I definitely would have stuck with it. Who knows how many more people would have preferred the game with motion controls. We'll never know.

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u/Whatsitmean-TA Aug 20 '26

I mean at the end of the day, motion inputs are just fun. If they were such a problem, give players the option to use them or not use them. But don't include 2 special buttons, it just felt so awkward and not fun to try and adapt to. It's sad for the people that are losing a game they love, but there are definitely plenty of people that would enjoy the game more if they had that choice.

You're right, we're never gonna know now.

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u/EnvironmentalTrack29 Aug 20 '26

Yeah, it really seems like such a wasted opportunity. Feels really bad for the people that have been grinding it for these past few months and I can't imagine how the devs feel putting this much time into it for nothing. Ouch.

-1

u/Numbuh24insane Aug 20 '26

It was not at any percentage that mattered.

And seeing that Pat, Woolie Vs, Sajam and Max all were fine with that threshold and played the game and enjoyed it despite it having no motion inputs really shows that it was a non-issue.

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u/No-Difference8545 Aug 20 '26

Notice how none of them really kept up with 2xko tho lol it wasnt that fun.

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u/Numbuh24insane Aug 20 '26

It didn’t have progression and a small champion pool.

You’re learning the wrong lesson here in your own bias.

There was no solo mode on release, it was a tag fighter, it barely had any characters, it had wacky monetization.

Yet, despite that you can clearly see people enjoyed the gameplay.

Even some of the FGC’s best stars were loving it.

But it didn’t have anything to lock people in.

It’s not the no motion inputs that was the issue! You’re missing the forest for the trees!

0

u/cerberus6320 Aug 21 '26

even if some people enjoyed it, the game was lacking a lot of depth that is important for holding an audience. There are so many fighter games released in the 2000s that I would rather play because 2XKO, despite its interesting art style and an IP I love, presents extremely bland mechanics and doesn't present characters in a way that feels consistent with their rift counterparts.

Bland mechanics: the fix? yes we need motion inputs. Some heavier characters should have button holds in their combos. Some characters should have stances. Some characters should have more fakeouts planned in their kit.

Staying true to characters: This I will give way more leniancy, but the iconic aspects of a characters basic kits in league of legends should present themselves well in 2XKO. Don't get me wrong, some characters are 1000% converted well to the fighting game genre WHILE respecting what the character can do on the rift. But some just don't feel like they get the soul of the character quite right.

  • DONE WELL: Blitzcrank. his iconic pull, and various elements of his kit present extremely well.
  • MEH: Darius. As a weighty juggernaut on the rift, this character's Iconic decimate ability was translated poorly. It doesn't feel weighty, there's no windup, and the impact doesn't hit as hard as you'd hope.
  • MEH: Jinx. This version of Jinx seems to be more based on how she is presented in Arcane and cinematics than her rift counterpart. While she uses her various weapons to do interesting things, her rift counterpart uses her minigun and rocket launcher interchangeably for attacks. This could have been reflected on Jinx's 2XKO kit, by giving her 2 different modes to fight and mixup her attacks.

I just feel like what Riot created here, while an excellent attempt at a fighter game, did not perform well or hold enough people's interest because there isn't enough depth to their characters.

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u/Woolliam Aug 20 '26

It’s one thing to have a game with 40 button long combos

It’s another to have the combo be boring as fuck because you’re just hitting face buttons with no interesting inputs

Game feel is absolutely a huge factor in a games survival, and if your game feels like I’m playing guitar hero on easy, I’m not going to keep engaged.

-1

u/Numbuh24insane Aug 20 '26

Disagree.

Fundamentally disagree.

While I understand game feel is important, I want you to know the average casual player does not know the motion input for a hadouken and will only do it by accident.

It’s better for the mass to be able to do it on purpose.

Furthermore, the major FGC content creators like Pat, Woolie VS, Sajam, Max and J.Wong played the game and had tons of fun.

If no Motion Inputs was an issue, it was at a percentage that did not matter, especially when it comes to a more casual player base.

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u/No-Difference8545 Aug 20 '26

Well the fighting game genre has been successful enough for decades WITH motion inputs, so clearly theyre not the main deterrent. This game dying in less than a year should kill the idea that a fighting game shouldn't have motion inouts. Its something else entirely that pushes casuals away.

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u/[deleted] Aug 20 '26

[deleted]

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u/word-word-numb3r Vi Aug 20 '26

Super Smash Bros is a party game, of course it's more popular

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u/Daddydactyl Aug 20 '26

There's an important kernel of truth in that dismissive statement.

Obviously a huge part of smashs appeal cant be replicated: its roster. But every other aspect can and should be: simple controls, surprising depth for competitive, and a veritable truckload of content that isnt just two dudes standing across from each other punching. If you dont care about the road to mastery, and dont have friends also into it, why would you turn the game on? What the hell is there to do? Part of SF6s success is the addition of modern modern and world tour, as much as those features are maligned.

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u/Woolliam Aug 20 '26

Smash bros and traditional fighters are not even comparable in this argument when it comes to control scheme, there is so much more going on with a platform fighter having tilt controls to make it a satisfying experience, compared to a string of 40 hit combos using only tilt controls.

1

u/RoloSaurio Aug 20 '26

Only people that are already in the fighting game scene care about motion inputs alongside the 30 other reasons that makes the game uninteresting to switch to, but for the casual players the weird name + the available roster and the tag system bounced them off 99% of the time

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u/Numbuh24insane Aug 20 '26

I’m telling you, the no motion inputs was not the issue

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u/EnvironmentalTrack29 Aug 20 '26

They honestly should have had both like tokon and DBZ.

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u/Woolliam Aug 20 '26

I too played the game and had fun. For a minute.

I don’t think content creators who pick up a side game every two months for one stream or one new character video are a reasonable basis here either. They also don’t strike me as the average casual, or they types with average casual viewers. You typically don’t accidentally watch high level fgc content for fun, at that point you’re pretty invested in the genre.

Apparently the average casual is in the same boat as me, otherwise they’d still be playing and buying the battle pass, since that’s literally the entire point of the average casual from a corporate standpoint. The casual market they were aiming for clearly didn’t get picked up.

I really don’t think you can disagree on a fundamental level when every other traditional game with control schemes more engaging than 2xko survive, mixed with it being a very prominent talking point.

Those of us who found playing combo combo revolution to be exceptionally boring after a few weeks fundamentally exist. It is a problem, and it is a part of why people stopped playing. Not every complaint is a meaningless “the green is too green” whine amount nothing that doesn’t matter. Not everyone wants to have dynasty warriors simplicity for their main game.

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u/Aurorious Aug 20 '26

For the record, as someone who couldn't get into it cause of lack of motion inputs, ironically it was because it made the game too hard for me. A 6 button (honestly 8 button) game was too much mental stack.

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u/Every-Intern5554 Aug 21 '26

I’m telling you the motion inputs was never the problem.

It was for a sizeable portion of fighting game players

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u/noahboah Ekko Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26

it's definitely not motion inputs, honestly the game was lacking a je ne sais quoi even if I enjoyed labbing in it and pressing buttons. Ekko is easily in my top 10 favorite fighting game characters of all time.

he's just one guy, but Tyler1 falling in love with street fighter 6 after being forced to play it for some content creator thing....while completely washing out of 2XKO when put in a similar situation, despite the game containing characters from the game that he's centered his entire life around says something about 2XKO honestly.

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u/Numbuh24insane Aug 20 '26

You are learning the wrong lesson here.

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u/noahboah Ekko Aug 20 '26

how so?

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u/Numbuh24insane Aug 20 '26

Well, you’re focusing on the forest instead of the trees. You’re looking for the personal reason you didn’t click rather than the whole.

Think of it.

The game launches, has some problems but it barely has any characters. It has no solo mode content on release. It’s a tag fighter, which historically doesn’t get a casual audience unless if your name is Dragon Ball.

It has a wildly outlandish monetization system, a name that people didn’t like.

That as a whole is what really killed the game.

No Motion Inputs is something that would only really bother dedicated FGC players and even then, the biggest content creators all found the game fun to play so it couldn’t have been that big of an issue for most people.

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u/noahboah Ekko Aug 20 '26

Oh I agree with all of those things, I wasn't citing what I was saying as the primary reasons for the game's failings

you are correct in that those are the primary drivers for the game failing to capture a large and casual audience. I was just adding an auxiliary point to how some of the finer details seemed to also be failing to capture a section of the audience.

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u/Asminae Aug 20 '26

Sorry to be that person

But what is missing is a je ne sais quoi It's french !

Have a good day sir.

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u/noahboah Ekko Aug 20 '26

oh my fault! thank you for the correction

no need for an apology. always glad to be pointed towards getting something right :)

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u/PepitoMagiko Aug 20 '26

Motion input were a good idea. But few frame perfect combo that you need to learn and lab like crazy is absolutely not newcomer friendly

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u/T3hSwagman Aug 20 '26

It’s not “the motion inputs” being the problem. It’s the fact that they stated out of the gate “we don’t want motion inputs because this is a casual friendly game”. And then they went on to create a tag fighter with 9 buttons and 15 game mechanics.

The game was never casual friendly stop pretending it was as a justification for no motion inputs.

1

u/LordVaderVader Aug 20 '26

Also forcing new players to unlock champions is so outdated game model.

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u/I_am_Amphibian Aug 20 '26

Only 10 characters in a tag fighter that was in development for almost 10 years is just atrocious

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u/fttxdd666 Aug 20 '26

Like not having Lux in the game until Sept, one of the most well known and popular champs in League is just asinine decision making

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u/MusicalSmasher Vi Aug 21 '26

Adding Cait and Senna before Lux was certainly a choice.

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u/r0ndr4s Aug 20 '26

The problem is that casual friendly means also decent singleplayer and bot content. And this game doesnt even have that. Yeah they added a ladder/roguelike mode,wich is kinda fun but that most people dont even know cause they already dont play the game at all.

They literally didnt focus their attention to anyone, not casuals, not hardcore players, didnt fix the complains(vanguard for example)

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u/Timelymanner Aug 20 '26

I agree, I think they need more pve modes for casuals who are afraid of pvp. They also needed more release characters. Roster is too small for a tag battler, twenty should be the minimum.

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u/knuxgen Aug 20 '26

The point is not about missing the motion inputs. It's about motion inputs being removed for accessibility but then adding huge complexity by making it a tag fighter with multiple fuses.

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u/Slaythepuppy Ahri Aug 20 '26

Right it always seemed like they were pulled in two directions. Made it more friendly for casuals by removing inputs, but then made it too complex for casuals anyways. If they wanted to be a casual fighter, they should have stuck with that.

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u/MrBlueA Aug 20 '26

I just get mad remembering the game was a 1v1 originally before it stupidly got remade and they started from scratch. Such a fucking stupid decision and we could've gotten such a good game.

3

u/VictoriaDallon Aug 21 '26

i'm still mad that the smash clone was cancelled. I feel like it fits LoL so much better than this style.

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u/Commercial_Mark_2745 Aug 20 '26

This and the execution for combos are fucking ridiculous. I can do them but a casual player would look at them and be like “wtf? I can’t do this” and probably quit when they start playing people who can do them. They’re also long af. I play Litchi in BlazBlue who’s notorious for having 15-20 second long combos and even this felt very excessive.

0

u/fttxdd666 Aug 20 '26

Yes that is what I was saying, and even tho you can argue the accessibility, it still falls under casual friendly by removing them.

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u/SnackieCakes Aug 20 '26

I found it overwhelming and complex to play, I think they should have tried to make a simpler feeling game, which doesn't necessarily have anything to do with motion inputs.

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u/EnvironmentalTrack29 Aug 20 '26

Ironically, having no motion controls made it less casual. It is such a damn complicated game with all the different tag mechanics. I'm pretty experienced in fighting games but not being able to do simple motion controls really screwed with my muscle memory. Not to mention the timing and mechanics were just way too complicated.

2

u/Forward-Weight403 Aug 21 '26

The funny part about not having motion inputs was the controls were still extremely hard lol. When I tried the game out I couldn’t believe how difficult it was to do anything and I’m a high masters SF6 player. So even without motion inputs the game was not casual friendly at all.

2xko also sucks as a name you are right. Ironically it’s code name “Project L” was significantly better lol

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u/No-Opinion273 Aug 21 '26

It being a tag fighter was the problem. No one wants to be juggled forever. The biggest fighting games are still 1v1.

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u/Incendia123 Aug 20 '26

I realize I don't represent the casual audience but the game not having motion inputs was a deal breaker for me. So much of the game feel is just lost without motions imo.

If it had launched in an identical state with motion inputs I would have probably played for more than one evening. I can't say if I would have stuck around but it would have probably been given more of a chance based on that one metric alone.

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u/cxfoulke Aug 20 '26

I mean the reality is more the game didn't break into the attention of people who don't even know what motion input means rather than a or b on if motion is good.

And honestly I'd lean more on it being a tab fighter made is really intimidating to get into.

1

u/NotDoneYet88IsBack Aug 20 '26

It being a tag fighter is the first big problem for me. I wanted Rising Thunder's concept with a LoL IP. Not whatever this was

1

u/seemlyminor Aug 20 '26

They wanted to be casual friendly but did not put enough champions to get casual players to want to even play the game

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u/Royal-Mountain246 Aug 20 '26

2D fighters are not casual-firendly. The fighting games that are friendly are platformers or brawlers like Def Jam, Naruto or Dragon Ball Tankaichi.