2XKO hasn’t even completed its first month out on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Sequence X/S and Riot Video games is already chopping its losses. The League of Legends maker introduced that it could be shedding 80 workers because the tag-teaming struggle sport fails to realize momentum.
“I want you to know that decision wasn’t made lightly. As we expanded from PC to console, we saw consistent trends in how players were engaging with 2XKO,” govt producer Tom Cannon wrote in a new blog post on February 9. “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.”
That includes fighters from League of Legends‘ Runeterra universe, 2XKO employs beautiful cel-shaded animations and tons of flashy combos. But it seems none of that was enough to help it make a huge splash in the fighting game community when it came to PC in Early Access last October. The game hit its 1.0 launch and arrived on consoles last month, where it became the third most-downloaded free-to-play game across PS4 and PS5, putting it ahead of Marvel Rivals and Highguard.
That sounds…not bad considering the game’s present trajectory, however apparently Riot was anticipating one thing a lot larger. Or possibly it was at all times the plan to chop the event workforce in half after launch because the League of Legends firm struggles to seek out success outdoors of its hit MOBA.
Cannon stated that there are not any plans to tug the plug on 2XKO,and its remaining workforce will proceed updating the sport and carrying via with its year-one aggressive plans. “Ultimately, this decision reflects a shift in how we operate,” he wrote. “This isn’t a judgment on individual Rioters or a signal that the journey is over. We’re reshaping the team to give 2XKO a more sustainable path forward.”
Cannon acknowledged how unhealthy the layoffs and the timing sounded. “I know this update will raise questions and concerns,” he wrote. “That’s understandable.” However he didn’t have something extra concrete to share to reassure followers.
