- Riot Games is expected to lay off 80 employees from 2XKO team
- Despite launch success, the game has seemingly underperformed by Riot’s standards
- The game’s 1.0 version has been live for just a few weeks
2XKO developer Riot Games is set to lay off a significant portion of the team that worked on the free-to-play tag fighting game.
In an update posted to the official Riot Games website, executive producer Tom Cannon explained the motivation behind the decision.
“After much discussion and reflection, we are reducing the size of the 2XKO team,” he wrote.
“I want you to know that the decision was not made lightly. As we expanded from PC to console, we saw consistent trends in how players interact with 2XKO. The game has resonated with a passionate core audience, but the overall momentum has not reached the level needed to support a team of this size long-term.”
Per Kotaku, 80 employees are expected to be laid off, which is roughly half of the 2XKO development team. This is despite a relatively successful console launch. The game finally came to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S in January after a long period of early access on PC.
During its console launch period, 2XKO became one of the most downloaded free-to-play titles of the month, beating similar free-to-play competitors such as Marvel Rivals and Highguard.
Cannon rightly acknowledged that this news “will raise questions and concerns.” He promised that updates will continue to be shared, and that 2XKO will continue to receive content.
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Ultimately, it’s not a good look. 2XKO has already had its fair share of controversies of varying magnitude. From its long development period to launching with a pitifully small 11-character roster (for a 2v2 fighting game, no less), this latest news hasn’t exactly inspired confidence in the playerbase.
“I can’t wait 2XKO never to be in another fighting game tournament after this year,” wrote one user on Bluesky.
“I thought I was pretty cynical about Riot and 2XKObut turns out I wasn’t nearly cynical enough,” wrote another.
The layoffs have understandably been devastating for some. “Ten years after 2XKO12 at Riot and I was fired with 30 minutes notice lol. It will take some time,” wrote a Bluesky user who apparently worked on the project.
What makes this even more of a shame is that 2XKO has largely been positively received by its players. The usual free-to-play complaints are there, of course, regarding microtransactions and overall business model, but the core gameplay looks to be fun and engaging.
I could be flippant and say 2XKOs developers were penalized for not pulling in immediately League of Legends or Teamfight tactics number, but perhaps there is a grain of truth in it.
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