2XKO won’t stay in FGC, and it’s Riot Games’ fault

2XKO it’s been mishandled from the start, and I think it’s fair to say it won’t be in the FGC for long.

It’s amazing, of course. I used to write many articles about how 2XKO can save fighting esports. It is backed by Riot, which can invest in a large esports structure, offering large prize pools and high-quality streams. But it seems that Riot is the reason for the downfall of 2XKO.

Since the beginning, Riot has treated 2XKO in a similar way to its other games, such as League of Legends and VALORANT. It looks like 2XKO will be a big hit in the esports community: they hired a huge team and had a lot of marketing and partnerships from the start. However, there was a lot of backlash to Riot’s cringe Chipotle ads, which didn’t ring true.

And if there’s one thing FGC cares about, it’s authenticity. Green. Loving. For so long, FGC had no money to speak of. It is kept alive by grit. While fans of the fighting game wanted Riot’s support, they couldn’t help but feel skeptical about the “normal” content surrounding the game.

Then, the FGC began to react with even more hostility when Riot revealed the 2XKO skins. They were insanely expensive, which is unusual in fighting games. Like I said, FGC is cash-strapped. Players care more about grinding matches and local LANs than buying expensive skins for different characters. It’s not just part of the culture.

The uproar later put down a large portion of 2XKO’s developers, saying the game did not live up to expectations at launch. This proved that Riot expected the game to be bigger than usual in a fighting game. I’m sorry, but whether it has LoL champions or not, it’s still a fighting game, and that’s the most important part of the esports industry. Most people don’t play or watch fighting games.

Chaos also seemed shocked that the fighting game community isn’t spending money. Devs seem to be banking heavily on buying skins to earn money, similar to how they do in League of Legends. But FGC doesn’t buy skins, especially not with big price tags. This event is not about making money, that’s for sure.

Riot has no passion or courage to live in FGC.

With most of the team laid off and no money coming in, Riot has stopped talking about 2XKO. The official esports scene is nowhere near what the publisher created with League of Legends and VALORANT. There is no major seasonal cycle with international tournaments. There are some social events.

In February, Riot wrote: “Our plans for the 2026 Competitive Series have not changed. We are committed to partnering with tournament organizers and local communities. Our focus will continue to be on supporting the events and organizers that already run the FGC.”

So, nothing new. They just want to retreat from the events that already exist. I don’t fully blame them. That’s what most fighting game titles do. I just want to point out that it is not the big cycle that we once believed would lift the FGC past where it already is.

And the attention is fading. Immediately.

Evo Japan’s numbers showed that no one is rushing to sign up for 2XKO even at one of the major international events. People in this area also stopped bothering with 2XKO due to lack of enthusiasm.

The problem? There are some big names in FGC who have switched to 2XKO, like them William “Leffen” Hjelte again Dominique “SonicFox” McLean. They bring some ideas and create some hype. But the scene is often disjointed and lacks prominent players to watch. There are no competitors and no stories.

You won’t see many new players, which is part of the problem. The game is more complicated than other fighting games. Not for beginners. This makes it attractive to top players like SonicFox, but boring to watch for casual fans. And it’s not very welcoming to hopeful players. It’s hard to build a great community.

I don’t think 2XKO will be a mainstay in FGC. I think it will disappear. Riot misfired from the start. Instead of focusing on locals and building a competitive community, hope the FGC buys overpriced skins and watches crazy Chipotle commercials. There are FGC veterans on the 2XKO staff, so maybe they can try to turn things around. If Riot allows them.

But it’s hard to believe that Riot would throw money at a scene that won’t pay them back. Chaos has no love for that.