When is the 2XKO release date? If you ever wondered what a League of Legends 2D fighting game would look like, you’re about to find out. Formerly known as Project L, 2XKO was confirmed as the game’s official name in early 2024, featuring the likes of Yasuo, Darius, and Braum.
Along with the name change, 2XKO has transformed into a 2v2 tag-team fighter, introducing plenty of mechanics that may be familiar to Marvel vs Capcom fans. If you can’t wait to learn more about this League of Legends fighting game, here’s everything we know about the 2XKO release date so far.
2XKO release date estimate
2XKO is set to launch on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 in 2025, as confirmed by Tom Cannon on the Riot Games website. Judging by the first Alpha Lab playtest beginning in August 2024, we estimate that the 2XKO release date could land before the summer of 2025.
Initially teased back in 2019, 2KXO was first shown off in 2021. Despite making a great deal of progress, the game would “not be shipping in 2021 or 2022”, said Cannon. According to a development update from August 2022, the team was “finishing up [their] work on core mechanics” and moving on to building champions, social features, and competitive gameplay elements.
2XKO has gone through several major changes, like switching to a 2v2 tag team fighter. The game was most recently playable at Evo 2024, the world’s biggest fighting game tournament, and will soon be available to the public for the first time through the Alpha Lab playtest system.
2XKO Alpha Lab playtest
You can get your hands on 2XKO by signing up to the Alpha Lab playtest. Keep in mind, signing up doesn’t necessarily mean you will gain access to the playtest, but it’s worth putting your name down if you have any interest in the game.
The 2XKO Alpha Labs playtest runs from August 8 – August 19. You can sign up for the playtest by registering on the 2XKO website. While 2XKO supports cross-regional matches, this feature won’t be available during the Alpha Lab test.
Players will have a chance to learn each character in the Alpha Lab by using the game’s dedicated tutorial mode. This lets you see each character’s moves before jumping into battle, and you can take what you’ve learned into training mode to prepare some combos. The training mode features a command list, as well as a comprehensive bot system to practice against before taking on real players.
2XKO trailers
Riot has posted a video on how to play 2XKO, giving players a brief overview of the mechanics, including how attacks work, defensive options, and Fuse.
We got our first look at the game’s first batch of characters, Ahri, Yasuo, Darius, and Ekko at EVO 2023. In the 13 minutes of 2XKO gameplay, eagle-eyed fans spotted that each fighter was being controlled separately. While the game can be played with two people, with one person controlling both characters on one team, this was our first look at the game being played by four individuals.
In February 2024, it was announced via the one-minute clip above that Project L would officially be called 2XKO, with some gameplay footage also showcased.
2XKO gameplay
Many of 2XKO’s core mechanics will seem familiar to 2D fighting game connoisseurs. Each champion is equipped with a set of attack abilities, which are linked to the champion’s current position (ground or airborne) and aim. Despite a focus on offensive combat, you’ll get an array of defensive abilities, which seems to include counterattacks and a blocking skill. In the above Introducing Duo Play dev diary, it’s also confirmed that 2XKO is also a 2v2 team-based fighting game.
As explained in the first gameplay teaser, Riot is going for an ‘easy to learn, difficult to master’ formula. Expect a gradual learning curve, without the need to memorize a dozen combos before jumping in with a new character. At the same time, the developer intends to give 2XKO a competitive edge, with a high skill cap for expert players.
2XKO assist and tag system
As explained in a ‘Basics & Tag’ developer diary video, 2XKO is an “assist-based fighter game”, which means that the player selects two champions to fight with. This includes a Point champion, the main fighter, and an Assist character to help out during combat.
Riot Games has confirmed three types of tag action so far:
- Assist Actions: unique character actions that are the bread and butter of the tag system. Even if your Assist is off-screen, this ability will call them to the battlefield. Holding this skill button will result in a more powerful Charged Assist Action.
- The Handshake Tag: switches the Point and Assist character roles as long as both characters are present on the screen.
- The Dynamic Save: calls in the Assist to interrupt your opponent’s combos, thereby saving your Point champion… Unless your Dynamic Save is countered.
Thanks to the Handshake Tag, it appears that every 2XKO champion will be able to fulfill either role, although some champions may be better suited to certain combat roles than others.
2XKO roster
The 2XKO roster is relatively small compared to similar 2v2 fighters, but there’s still time for the devs to add new characters before the game launches next year. Riot has worked hard to ensure every character has a unique play style. Give our 2XKO characters and abilities guide a read to learn more about all the fighters.
Here’s the full list of confirmed 2XKO characters so far:
- Braum
- Ekko
- Darius
- Ahri
- Illaoi
- Yasuo
While tweaked to fit the fighting game mechanics, early footage shows the 2XKO champions using moves that are reminiscent of their signature abilities in League of Legends. Ekko can be seen manipulating time by using a ‘Chronostrike’ rewind ability, leaving an after-image of himself on the battlefield to move back to at a later time. Illaoi’s early gameplay showcase unveils a brawny, “big body” character who uses tentacle attacks, just like her League of Legends kit.
2XKO netcode
As a competitive game, 2XKO’s netcode will greatly influence your gameplay experience. Riot promises a highly responsive system that should be no different from playing offline thanks to rollback netcode enhanced by Riot Direct, its internal network. It’s also worth pointing out that 2XKO uses dedicated servers, rather than peer-to-peer battles which are susceptible to lag depending on each player’s connection.
2XKO news
Riot officially announced its League of Legends fighting game in 2019, but it was hardly a surprise; about three years prior, Riot acquired Radiant Entertainment, a team of fighting game experts. Radiant Entertainment previously released a brawler called Rising Thunder, but the full release was canceled while the game was still in its alpha stage following Riot’s acquisition.
Riot has confirmed that 2XKO will be free to play. According to Cannon, the aim is to make the game accessible to anyone, regardless of their budget. 2XKO will most likely feature microtransactions to unlock cosmetics and new champions, just like in League of Legends. We got our first look at the game’s battle pass system in the Alpha Lab breakdown, showing off new skins featured in the game.
At Evo 2024, Cannon confirmed DLC characters can be unlocked without having to pay any money. We imagine the character unlock process to be similar to Valorant or League of Legends, with hardcore players being able to unlock new champions fairly easily.
Now you know everything about the 2XKO release date, why not check out our list of the best multiplayer games to make the wait a little easier? Alternatively, consider some of the best PC games of all time.
Original article by Marloes Valentina Stella.