What does layoff mean to a player

2XKO is Riot Games’ entry into the fighting game community, a project that has been in the works for a long time. Since it first arrived, it’s clear that Riot has made a solid, smooth, and stylish fighting game, and that has improved since the release date of 2XKO.

As far as the fighting game community is concerned, Riot Games has a gem on its hands, something that makes sense to support the games existence and longevity. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the success Riot was hoping for, and it led to a brutal decision.

Despite the positive reception from the fighting game community, Tom Cannon, executive producer of 2XKO, released a statement revealing that the 2XKO team has been demoted. This is because the game does not reach the standards required for a team of this size, despite the sound ‘with an enthusiastic audience.’

The goal seems to be sustainability, something that is impossible with the current size of the team. It turns out that this downsizing has been a big deal, as almost half of the development team, around 80 employees, have been laid off.

This may be part of the problem, as that means the 2XKO team started with around 160 developers. While this isn’t a huge team by any means, it feels pretty big for what ended up being 2XKO. In context, in 2024, Arc System Works had a total of 233, which famously includes Team Red and Blue developers, as well as non-developer staff, and is a fighting game studio with the largest pedigree.

As shocking as the 2XKO takedown was, it wasn’t as if the development of the match was smooth sailing. The gameplay of the title was revealed for the first time in late 2019, and with the full release of the game in early 2026, some say they worked on it for 10 years. This is a long development cycle for a fighting game, especially one as simple as 2XKO with a team of around 160 employees.

2XKO started looking like the game we know today four years ago, without a 10-year development cycle. While the quality of the final product is admirable, the smooth development cycle shouldn’t have taken so long, and it means that Riot has invested heavily in the game.

Putting such heavy money into a fighting game was always going to be difficult. The fighting game genre has a mix of intense competition, with many long-lived IPs, and a niche playerbase, which means there aren’t many players compared to shooters, for example, and it’s not friendly to new IPs. With a team of around 160 people, working for 10 years, it was always going to be difficult to recoup the investment when launching a free-to-play title.

The marketing, in retrospect, was odd as well, considering how it felt like a huge release. The difference between early access and Day 1 wasn’t very noticeable, and perhaps delaying the release of Warwick and Teemo until the full release could have created more buzz.

The layoff was announced shortly after launch, and although 2XKO made about and new IP fighting game that you can truly hope for with its marketing and programming, attracting a niche core, it wasn’t enough for Riot games. Then there are questions about whether Riot Games’ expectations were realistic, considering the brand and the product it produced.

10 years, with a team of 160, the game itself also does not offer much. There are currently 12 characters for 2XKO, a small list, especially compared to a spin-off tag fighter like Dragon Ball FighterZ. There’s no story mode, and it’s not much of an arcade-style mode, the two standard modes they start with when entering a fighting game.

Considering that 2XKO is a League of Legends fighting game, the small roster doesn’t help its case, as LoL’s cast is huge. A large roster would help the game appeal to the LoL audience, which was needed to make a big impact. Riot Games’ goal with 2XKO was obviously its competitive side of the game, but that’s not where fighting games get their biggest player numbers.

The casual playerbase, which enjoys playing against AI and maybe other unlisted games, comes in hot, then goes away maybe a month after launch, but generally makes the launch of fighting games look impressive. These aren’t always competitive fans, and even the biggest fighting games don’t have huge player numbers. For example, Street Fighter 6 peaked at around 70K players at one time, but dropped to 38K less than a month later, and now has a daily peak of around 30K according to SteamDB.

The 2XKO takedown is a huge blow. There’s no way around it, but those who say 2XKO is dead feel far off. Another big advantage Riot Games still has is that its fighting game is very well done. It’s stylish, it’s fast, it looks great, and it feels great to play. This is not a topic that people in the fighting game community feel lukewarm about, like how many FPS fans feel lukewarm about Highguard.

Success for 2XKO esports is still on the cards, especially with how the characters are portrayed and how the game looks. Riot Games has already got its foot in the door of fighting game esports, so the potential remains for success on the competitive side, but fighting game platforms don’t have the same amount of money that Riot could use for VALORANT and League of Legends.

We’ll have to wait for more information, but the downgrade likely means the 2XKO lineup will see fewer regular additions than originally planned. Given that 2XKO sounds like a success from a purely performance standpoint, it almost seems like Riot had unrealistic expectations for the fighting game. It’s a niche genre, with a lot of competition, and 2XKO’s future may depend on how well it does competitively.

The layoff of 2XKO is a huge shame, and a very difficult situation for those who lost their jobs, but this does not seem like the end of the Riot fighter. It’s well-made, it’s a lot of fun, and its stylish look gives it a good image on the esports success scale, given that Riot Games is keeping its expectations realistic.

Ultimately, 2XKO is a great fighting game, and as long as those left on the team can continue to improve it, it can be a great game with a lot of life, especially competitively. Hopefully, Riot Games is willing to keep it with 2XKO, even though it’s still another brutal and sad story in the gaming industry.