“2XKO (League of Legends 2XKO/League of Legends 2XKO)”, a 2-on-2 fighting game set in the “League of Legends (League of Legends/League of Legends)” universe, has just been officially launched on the console platform for less than three weeks, and it has ushered in a shock bomb that has stunned players and the industry. Developer Riot Games Announced large-scale personnel changes, approx. 80 employees laid off, which is equivalent to directly cutting off nearly half of the original development team.
The official statement is very rational, players only see that the timing is cruel
The layoff news was announced by the executive producer of “2XKO” Tom Cannon Explain publicly in person on the official blog. He admitted that although “2XKO” has received certain positive feedback from core players and the fighting game community, the overall momentum is insufficient to support the original size of the development team for a long time. Riot therefore chose to shrink its front line, hoping to use leaner manpower to focus on the most critical improvement projects based on player feedback. Affected employees who are unable to be transferred to other Riot projects will receive at least six months’ notice of pay and severance support.
From early access to official launch, the gap in expectations gradually emerged
Looking back at the launch rhythm of “2XKO”, it is not a work that appeared suddenly. This game has been in early access on the PC platform as early as October 2025, and will be officially launched on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on January 20, 2026. Riot originally had high hopes for this work, hoping to successfully enter the highly competitive fighting game market through the world view and character charm of “League of Legends”. However, judging from the scale and comments of this layoff, the diffusion effect brought about by the launch of the console version obviously did not meet the company’s original expectations.
The method of layoffs was exposed, adding to the anger of the community
What is even more unsettling among gamers and developer circles is the layoff process shared by some employees. Some developers revealed that they received the notification in just 30 minutes, with almost no buffer space. Such statements have spread rapidly on social platforms, and the corporate decision-making model that puts efficiency first and puts aside emotions has once again become the focus of discussion.
Competitive events will still be held, but the imagination of the future has shrunk
Riot currently emphasizes that the Competitive Series (Competitive Series) of “2XKO” originally scheduled to be launched in 2026 will still proceed as planned, and the existing team will continue to update and maintain game content. However, the industry generally believes that such a significant team reduction will inevitably affect the long-term update pace and ambition scale.