New Fighting Game 2XKO Hits Early Access With Characters From League of Legends
- Riot’s new free 2v2 League of Legends fighting game is live on PC with Season 0 running through 2025. Progress carries over permanently.
- Warwick and Teemo join nine other Champions, each with unique tag-team abilities and LoL-inspired moves.
- Ranked matches feature anti-cheat measures, 22 competitive events are planned this year, and patches are rolling out after launch issues.
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League of Fisticuffs
Riot Games continues to try out new video game genres with 2XKO transplanting League of Legends/Arcane characters into a 2v2 fighting game. It’s free to play, Early Access is open, and Season 0 is live, all on PC.
There are currently 11 Champions to choose from; players can mix and match two at a time, to unlock different tag-team and assist mechanics. Riot Games recently revealed that wolfman Warwick and Bandle Scout leader Teemo are the latest Champions to join the roster, alongside news that any unlocks made during Season 0 will stay that way.
“Starting from Early Access, there won’t be any more account resets,” the studio said in a recent news post. “All champions and cosmetics you unlock are yours to keep. This means we’re taking our first steps as a live service game, which is pretty cool.”
“We’re still working on bringing 2XKO to consoles, and will share an update when we have one. Any progress on PC will carry over to console when it’s out.”
Bad Dog, Good Boy
As one of the newest Champions, Warwick is a decent example of the way different movesets and powers can be used. As the Uncaged Wrath of Zaun, he gains Bloodlust during battles, and once this is full, gets to unleash special abilities such as an Aerial Primal Vault that lets him cancel a jump mid-move and turn it into a powerful airborne slash.
By contrast, the other new Champion is a fluffy little Bandle whose diminutive size hides sneaky Teemo combos like a ground-based shovel hit and insta-grow grass he can hide in for defence, or set fire to as an extra offensive ability.
Other Champions available in Season 0 include Braum, Ahri, Blitzclank, Vi, Jinx, Darius, Yasuo, Ekko, and Illaoi. All the characters have moves that relate to what players will already know about them, whether they’ve played League of Legends, Wild Rift, Legends of Runeterra, or even watched Arcane.
Gamers new to this world and lore, but familiar with other fighting games, have however already noticed moves that reference other titles: for example, Warwick has moves very similar to Wolverine and Spider-Man from various Marvel Vs. Capcom titles, as well as a visual similarity to Sabrewulf, from Killer Instinct.
Right, Right, Down, Up
2XKO joins a huge range of fighting games that include historic titles from SNK (King of Fighters), Midway Games (Mortal Kombat), and of course Capcom (Street Fighter). Some of these studios, and others, have released tag-team fighting games before, most notably the Marvel Vs. Capcom series.
As such, it’s fair to assume a lot of games have crossover moves, even button combinations – for example, the modern Mortal Kombat and Injustice games use the “dial a combo” system that involves pressing the same series of buttons across different characters to execute moves.
2XKO at least builds on this familiarity so that movesets are easy to learn but hard to master. Each Champion also has a specific archetype so players can pick the one that works best for their playstyle, whether it’s Vi’s Rushdown (fast, close-quarters) or Blitzcrank’s Grappler (focuses on throws and grabs) movesets.
Them’s Fighting Words
Riot Games’ Executive Producer Tom Cannon offered an update on the official 2XKO site recently as to what players can expect from the game, and its Early Access phase, including how often Champions will be unlocked and competitive gaming features.
“Early Access kicks off with our first draft of seasonal content: Season 0. Every season will have a new champion, Battle Pass, and more. Season 0 will last through the end of 2025,” he said.
“We learned a lot during Closed Beta, and will be making improvements to placements, match fairness, and the tempo of the climb. Also, the team is cooking on ways to support labbing in Training Mode between Ranked matches instead of going back into the lobby.”
As gamers might expect from another League of Legends-related title, Riot Games are putting a strong emphasis on live streaming and competitive events, with 22 already on the docket for the remainder of this year.
“Just like with the Alpha Labs and Closed Beta, you can expect things to change as we figure out what’s working and what’s not. The key difference is that during Early Access we’ll be making changes live, so bear with us as we find our footing,” Cannon added.
Early Access Teething Problems
Cannon’s comments preceded multiple 2XKO login queues as returning beta players and new gamers tried to access the main game lobby. Some players have also been asking on social media about how to play 2XKO offline so as to avoid sign-in errors, and the good news is that gamers can play Training Mode and Local VS (PVP mode) without an internet connection.
In terms of 2XKO pricing, the base game is completely free and Riot Games has said this won’t change even after it leaves Early Access. Cosmetic items can be bought with real money, but the studio also said gamers will never have to pay to play.
Riot Games, and Cannon, have also been transparent in terms of there not being a set time for when Early Access will end, as it depends on multiple points, including when the console version will be ready.
Regarding the recent login issues, Riot Games has already released a patch, with more on the way. The Early Access release on Oct. 7 was accompanied by patch 1.0.1, which included a variety of tweaks and new content, and the next patch, 1.0.1.1, will go live on Oct. 9. Riot Games has warned players 2XKO will need to go offline then, too, from 8am PT until 12pm PT.
Fight Me
With Activision recently coming under fire for removing, then reinstating, skill-based matchmaking in Black Ops 7, Riot Games looks to be making sure 2XKO is a lot fairer. This includes implementing rollback netcode and anti-cheat systems as Ranked matches go live from Oct. 9, although it may see further tweaks during Season 0.
“In general, matches should feel more fair, and placement games should get you closer to your expected rank,” Riot Games said. “As a result, reaching Challenger will be more difficult and should require a bit more of a time investment.”
“We’re still keeping an eye on Ranked matchmaking as we transition into Season 0, and will continue to improve the Ranked experience in future updates.”
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