The Early Access is out, and Riot says it’s not going to be perfect. That’s not a red flag, it’s a promise to keep evolving.
2XKO has only been in Early Access for a few days, and Riot has already made one thing clear: there will be problems. The studio isn’t promising a flawless launch – instead, it’s preparing players for a process of adjustment and iteration. How well that works will depend on what happens next, but for now, the community seems ready to test what Riot can deliver.
"We're Going To Make Mistakes"
The lead of 2XKO, Shaun Riviera, acknowledged in an interview "it's going to be a little bumpy when we get out." Furthermore he added "We're going to make mistakes" and "We're the type of team where we want to try stuff. Sometimes it's going to land and sometimes it's going to whiff, but we will be trying things. I want to set those expectations for players that something we try might go wrong or it might not be good, but we'll address it."
Some might see this as a reason for concern, but it might actually be the opposite. The fighting-game genre is notoriously hard to balance and polish and balance is only one part of a complex whole. On top of that, this is the first fighting game Riot Games has ever developed. In that context, a few bumps along the way feel almost inevitable. Building a great fighting game will take time, iteration, and a bit of humility.
A League of Legends Fighting Game?
The developers behind League of Legends are now taking on a new challenge: a tag-team fighter set in the same universe. Players can step into the arena as familiar champions like Ekko, Vi, and Jinx. Much like Dragon Ball FighterZ, 2XKO focuses on fast-paced tag mechanics where team synergy is just as important as individual skill, so fans of that game will probably feel right at home. The Early Access version, currently available on PC, gives a first look at how Riot translates its MOBA universe into a completely different genre.
Small Roster, Big Reactions
The fighting game community seems open to a new big player on the horizon. But it’s not only long-time fighting game players who are excited. 2XKO is considered relatively friendly to newcomers and features some of the stars from the popular Arcane series.
Still, the roster currently includes only eleven characters, which is quite small for a fighting game. Riot Games has announced plans to release five new fighters each year to expand the lineup. Even so, the community is already voicing frustrations about certain characters: some dislike facing an aggressive Ekko, others complain about dodging Jinx’s endless projectiles, and plenty of players have already had enough of Yasuo’s unpredictable cross-ups that can flip a round in an instant. Yet nearly everyone agrees that Teemo is the most infuriating opponent of them all. Then again, every fighting game has a character like that – in Tekken 8 it’s Xiaoyu, in Street Fighter 6 many players would say Blanka, and in 2XKO it might just be Teemo.
Early Days, Long Road
A few days after the Early Access release, all we can do now is wait. The meta will take shape over the coming months, and hopefully Riot Games will live up to its promise to adjust where necessary. The best approach is to listen closely to the community – if they do, the chances of 2XKO becoming a serious contender in the FGC are fairly high.
What do you think? Is Teemo already driving you up the wall? Let us know in the comments!
