Riot Lays Off Half the 2XKO Team Just Weeks After Launch

Riot Games just cut approximately 80 developers from the 2XKO team — roughly half of the fighting game’s global workforce — less than three weeks after its full console release on January 20, 2026. Executive producer Tom Cannon confirmed the layoffs, citing that the game’s “overall momentum hasn’t reached the level needed to support a team of this size.”

This is a game that was in development since 2019, originally announced as Project L, went through PC early access in October 2025, and launched on consoles just 21 days ago. Cutting half your team that quickly after a full release sends a very clear signal about how Riot views 2XKO’s commercial performance — and it raises serious questions about the game’s future. While the fighting game community processes this news, competitive gamers across other titles can check out Eloking’s boosting services to level up in the games that are sticking around.

Here’s what happened, what it means, and what’s next.

The Numbers Behind the Cuts

Riot hasn’t released exact per-region breakdowns, but industry sources and the company’s own communications confirm approximately 80 positions eliminated across the global 2XKO development team. That represents roughly 50% of the game’s total workforce.^[1]

Affected employees are being offered assistance finding other positions within Riot Games. Those who can’t be placed internally will receive a minimum of six months of notice pay and severance. That’s more generous than industry standard — most gaming layoffs offer three months or less — but it doesn’t change the reality that 80 people lost their jobs on a game that launched less than a month ago.

What Tom Cannon Said

Tom Cannon, 2XKO’s executive producer and a co-founder of the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), delivered the news in a public statement. His key quote: “2XKO has resonated with a passionate core audience, but overall momentum hasn’t reached the level needed to support a team of this size long term.”^[2]

That phrasing is telling. “Passionate core audience” means the game found its niche but failed to break into the mainstream. For a free-to-play fighting game backed by Riot’s infrastructure, marketing, and the League of Legends IP, that’s a disappointing result by any measure. Riot clearly expected 2XKO to achieve broader appeal, and when it didn’t, the response was swift and severe.

What “Momentum” Actually Means

In gaming business terminology, “momentum” typically refers to the combination of active player count, player retention, and revenue trajectory. Cannon’s use of that word suggests that one or more of these metrics fell significantly below Riot’s internal projections. Free-to-play games live and die on retention curves — if players aren’t coming back after the first week, the long-term revenue model collapses regardless of initial download numbers.

The Broader Pattern: Fighting Games vs. the Market

2XKO’s struggles aren’t happening in isolation. The fighting game genre has always occupied a niche position within competitive gaming, and recent years have shown just how difficult it is to sustain a large-scale fighting game outside of Street Fighter and a handful of other established franchises.

The Genre Challenge

Fighting games have a fundamental accessibility problem. The genre demands precise inputs, matchup knowledge, and mechanical skill that creates a steep barrier for casual players. 2XKO attempted to address this with its tag-team format and streamlined controls, but the core loop of competitive 1v1 fighters still alienates a large portion of potential players. That’s not a solvable problem with more content or better matchmaking — it’s structural to the genre itself, and even Riot’s massive resources couldn’t overcome it.

The Riot Expectation Gap

The issue is compounded by Riot’s own standards. This is a company whose games — League of Legends, Valorant, Teamfight Tactics — count their player bases in the tens of millions. A fighting game that “resonated with a passionate core audience” might be a success for an indie studio, but for Riot, it’s a resource allocation problem. The team size was built for mainstream success, and when that didn’t materialize, the math stopped working.

What’s Still Happening with 2XKO

Riot isn’t killing 2XKO. The company confirmed that a “smaller, focused team” will continue supporting the game with improvements and updates. The 2026 Competitive Series remains unchanged, and Riot says it will continue partnering with tournament organizers and local communities.

That’s the standard playbook for a game in maintenance mode. A smaller team can keep the lights on — balance patches, bug fixes, seasonal content — but the ambition for 2XKO as a major competitive platform has clearly been scaled back. Don’t expect the kind of aggressive content cadence that Valorant or League of Legends receive. For gamers looking for competitive titles with stronger support, consider checking out our guides on games like League of Legends or Valorant where the competitive ecosystems remain robust.

What This Tells Us About the Industry

The 2XKO layoffs are part of a larger pattern in 2026. Gaming companies are becoming more aggressive about cutting projects and teams that don’t hit their targets within increasingly narrow timeframes. Three weeks from full launch to laying off half the team is an extraordinarily fast trigger pull, even by modern standards.

For developers, the message is clear: the window to prove product-market fit is shrinking. For players, it means the games you play are only as stable as their player retention numbers. And for the esports community, it means that competitive scenes built around games with uncertain futures are inherently fragile.

The Takeaway

Riot Games laid off approximately 80 developers from 2XKO’s team — roughly half its workforce — on February 9, 2026, less than three weeks after the game’s full console launch. The game found a dedicated audience but failed to reach Riot’s mainstream player count targets. A smaller team will continue supporting 2XKO and the 2026 Competitive Series, but the game’s ambition has been materially scaled back. Affected employees receive six months of severance or internal placement assistance.

References

1. [1] "Riot Games lays off 2XKO developers". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved February 10, 2026
2. [2] "Riot Games lays off 2XKO developers less than three weeks after release". gamedeveloper.com. Retrieved February 10, 2026