Riot Games has laid off approximately 80 employees from its 2XKO development team, representing roughly half of the game’s workforce, in a move that underscores the struggling performance of the company’s highly anticipated League of Legends-themed fighting game.
The cuts come less than three weeks after 2XKO’s full 1.0 launch on January 20, and just months after the game entered early access in October 2025. According to executive producer Tom Cannon’s announcement, the decision reflects a shift in resource allocation following disappointing player engagement metrics.
“The game 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,” Cannon stated in the announcement.
What This Means for 2XKO’s Future
Despite the significant workforce reduction, Riot has confirmed that 2XKO will continue development with a smaller, focused team. The company pledged to implement improvements to the game, including features players have requested. Notably, the 2026 Competitive Series plans remain unchanged, indicating Riot’s commitment to esports infrastructure despite the operational downsizing.
Affected employees will be offered the opportunity to apply for other positions within Riot Games, ensuring they are not immediately separated from the company entirely.
Part of a Larger Pattern
The 2XKO layoffs represent the latest in a series of workforce adjustments at Riot Games. The company shut down its Riot Forge program and eliminated 530 positions two years ago, a move CEO Dylan Jadeja justified by noting that several “big bets” made since 2019 had failed to deliver adequate returns. Riot signaled it would refocus on “fewer, high-impact projects” going forward.
Additional layoffs followed in October 2024, though leadership maintained that the core League of Legends development team would eventually expand as the company works on next-generation updates to its flagship title.
The Road to Launch
2XKO had an unusually long development timeline, having been in production for nearly a decade prior to its official release. The 2v2 fighting game was first announced in 2019, though rumors of its existence traced back to Riot’s acquisition of Radiant Entertainment in 2016.
The timing of the layoffs—occurring after the game’s competitive debut but before broader commercial success—suggests that player adoption rates fell short of internal projections, prompting Riot to adjust its investment accordingly.