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Put that mouse down, League boy. We don’t use those around these parts. 2XKO, Riot Games’ upcoming 2v2 fighting game, is claiming a part of the greater Fighter Game Community (FGC) that hasn’t seen much representation: the free-to-play space. And that, coupled with the League of Legends universe (which deserves as many adaptations as possible), is a license to print money, right?
Well, that’s what I was thinking, too, when we got our hands on the Alpha Lab Playtest, and it turns out we might be on to something here. 2XKO isn’t just a free-to-play fighting game, it’s the only one of its kind (MultiVersus is a Smash-like, fight me). There aren’t many tag fighters out there, and this game is filling up that void that the “When’s Mahvel Baybee?” crowd has had for years. So if you’re expecting slow neutral like Street Fighter 6, you won’t even realize it, and your opponent will empty your life bar, uninstall your game, and install Street Fighter X Tekken before you can say, “What kinda name is 2XKO?”
2XKO Is Doing a Lot of Things Right
The Alpha Lab preview of 2XKO gave us an idea of what direction Riot is going for with the game, and for the most part, the team is headed in the right direction. First and foremost, the visual style, is appealing, unique, and flashy, taking cues from multiple fighters like Guilty Gear Strive, Street Fighter 6, and more, while injecting its own DNA. The stages where you fight are varied, interesting, and alive, something that has become necessary in recent years.
Even at such an early stage, 2XKO is killing it in many areas where most fighting games struggle. The music is catchy, upbeat and makes you want to throw down, and I’m not talking about your controller. The UI and UX, which are low on the list of priorities for most fighting game developers (look no further than the atrocity that was Street Fighter V), are immaculate, with readability and simplicity being a priority.
So far, the 2XKO Alpha Lab Test only has six playable fighters, and all of them have unique kits for the genre in general. But let’s be honest, you’re going to pick Yasuo because why not, man’s got a cool sword and he likes to swing it. Whether it is Braum, who looks like he stole a barn door and turned it into a weapon, or Darius, who hits from 2 lightyears away and converts into major damage, each character is so interesting that you will likely want to explore more. This becomes even easier with the Pulse Fuse which is ideal for people who haven’t played fighting games before, as it allows you to do autocombos to hit the ground running.
Most impressive is the rollback netcode, which, in our testing, was as stable as Braum’s mustache during a category seven hurricane. Seeing such stability in such an early phase is an excellent sign for things to come when the game’s full release rolls around, which is expected to be in late 2025 or early 2026.
2XKO Stumbles, But Rarely
Tom and Tony Cannon, you guys have been pillars of the FGC for longer than anyone else, and although 2XKO is doing a lot right, a few changes will make it a mainstay in the community for years to come. First and foremost, community feedback is important, and it should play a role in how development continues from here on out, but it shouldn’t go beyond the point where it compromises the soul of the game and aims to placate everyone.
Some issues that players of the 2XKO Alpha Lab Test have been pointing out are obviously temporary and should be ironed out in time for the full release. This includes things like the jarring animation transition from standing to walking, the simplistic tutorial, and the lack of game modes.
But what merits some attention are the extremely long combos, which, at this point, are considered necessary in tag fighters, something that 2XKO would do better without. What’s even more problematic is the lack of interesting combo routes for some characters. Each character’s high-damage combos have pretty much been nailed by the community already in such a short time, and that should have taken months.
Speaking of high damage, there are more than a handful of touch-of-death combos, which isn’t very fun at all on the receiving end, even with the Burst mechanic in place. While they are good in very rare and specific scenarios that require a lot of resources and the stars to align, they shouldn’t be possible in every other match. Luckily, the developer has already acknowledged these issues and has promised to look into them in the future.
Riot has also opted for the Street Fighter 6 Battle Lounge or Guilty Gear Strive lobby style in 2XKO, which most people aren’t a fan of. It lets you walk around with your custom avatar and interact with other players, watch live matches, and challenge others. This shouldn’t be much of a bother when it comes to the full release as long as it has the traditional Ranked and Casual matchmaking options. Riot’s implementation of the lobby system is better than Capcom and Arc System Works’ iterations, especially when it comes to private lobbies that show a live match on a screen instead of having you start a separate spectating mode.
Riot seems to have given 2XKO this the love and attention it deserves. With a few tweaks, the right decisions, and some tough love toward the community, 2XKO will carve its way into the FGC and hopefully become what League of Legends did to the MOBA world. If Riot Games can pull it off, other major games might just start considering the free-to-play model as well.
