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2XKO: What we know about the League of Legends fighting game
Assist attacks, crisp movement and a great design philosophy. 2XKO wants to be the next big tag team fighter. Find out what we know so far.
Riot Games' move into the fighting game genre is here: 2XKO has launched to gamers around the world in its early access form, letting PC players test out the title before its wider release onto consoles.
As more and more information has trickled out about Riot's fighter – from its developer diaries to its launch into early access – we've detailed everything you need to know.
Jeannail 'Cuddle_Core' Carter is ready to take on 2XKO
© Kena Krutsinger/Red Bull Content Pool
2XKO – All the facts
01
The new name: 2XKO
The title was originally known as Project L. In February 2024, it was announced that the game's actual name would be 2XKO (pronounced: Two Ex Kay Oh) – a nod to its tag-battling mechanic and fighting game roots.
02
The team behind 2XKO
Riot Games has brought in a few experts for the development of 2XKO. Tom and Tony Cannon are spearheading the project. The twins are fighting game veterans and co-founders of Evo, among others. Tony Cannon also began developing Rollback Netcode in 2006. This type of data transmission for online play in fighting games is far superior to delay-based netcode and is currently used in numerous games such as Guilty Gear Strive and The King of Fighters XV.
Icons of the fighting game scene: Tom and Tony Cannon
© Riot Games
Before joining Riot Games, the Cannons launched the fighting game Rising Thunder with their own studio, Radiant Entertainment. The title offered some innovative approaches to the traditional fighting game model. Special moves can be equipped in various ways and have different cool-downs. However, these are only visible to the player of a character. As a result, the title cannot be played on one screen, as is usual for the genre. It was only possible to play online matches, as each fighter required their own interface. In the spectator view, a regular HUD could be seen, as used in other fighting games.
In March 2016, Radiant announced that it had been acquired by Riot Games, and work on Rising Thunder was subsequently shut down. In August 2019, Tom Cannon announced that his team was now working on a new title. This turned out to be 2XKO the following October.
49 min
The Art of Street Fighting
The world's top Street Fighter V players prepare for the fight of their lives at Red Bull Kumite.
03
The core of the gameplay: 2v2
In the first trailer, Tom and Tony Cannon take the time to give us a deeper insight into the mechanics of 2XKO. As expected, the title is a classic 2D fighter. However, for the first time, we were able to experience a crucial function in action: tags and assists.
As League of Legends is a game that relies heavily on team synergy, 2XKO – being set in the same universe and shares the same characters – should also convey this feeling. This means you don't just choose a champion as your fighter, but a team. While one character is "on point," the rest of your team is available to you as assist attacks or can be substituted.
Darius uses Ekko's assist to launch his offence
© Riot Games
The title is, of course, primarily reminiscent of the classic team-up Capcom vs. games, such as Marvel vs. Capcom, or one of the more recent tag games, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid. The structural similarity is not surprising as the 2XKO team also includes former developers of this Power Ranger game.
Just like Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, 2XKO relies on special moves that can be triggered simply by pressing a button combined with a directional input. This means the title will not rely on classic inputs such as quarter-circles, half-circles or dragon punch movements. This decision was made to give newcomers quicker access to a character's move set.
Darius’ special move, Apprehend, can be performed with just a single button
© Riot Games
The game's tag mechanics are explained in more detail in their second developer diary. The following options were demonstrated:
- Assist actions: This is where your second character is called into battle to perform one of two different actions. These, of course, vary from champion to champion and are comparable to the assist attacks from Marvel vs. Capcom or Dragon Ball FighterZ.
- Handshake tag: Allows you to take direct control of your second character if they are on the screen. This allows you to call him for an assist action and switch directly to them. This is reminiscent of a fairly similar mechanic from BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle.
- Dynamic-safe: This is 2XKO's burst action. You switch to your second champion with a short burst of energy. Similar to other games that have burst, it can be devastating if your opponent reads this defensive move and punishes you.
04
Fuse system
Once you have decided on two characters, you can choose a fuse afterwards. These determine how your team works together through gameplay modifiers. There are currently five fuses:
- 2X Assist: This allows you to empower your partner with multiple assist actions, opening up your move pool.
- Double Down: This lets you combine the ultimate attacks of both your characters, meaning you should be aware of what synergy your characters have – if any.
- Freestyle: Easily the hardest Fuse to learn, Freestyle lets you handshake tag twice in one sequence. That means that usually when you tag, it happens quickly – but with Freestyle, your tag partner sticks around for longer, allowing you to chain up combos and mixups in a whole new way.
- Juggernaut: Every other Fuse is all about how you work with your tag partner – Juggernaut takes that out of the equation entirely, as you only play as your main character instead, with a few buffs included.
- Sidekick: This Fuse focuses on single-character play, but unlike Juggernaut, your assist character can still use assist actions to help with your fight.
Before the match, you choose a fuse for your team
© Riot Games
05
Duo play
In 2XKO, getting into the ring with a friend will be possible. The gameplay will not change. One player controls the champion, who is currently "on point." If the second champion of a team is substituted, the respective partner takes control. This also works in a 1v2 constellation.
06
How to play the game
2XKO uses six buttons:
- Light Attack
- Medium Attack
- Heavy Attack
- Special 1
- Special 2
- Tag
A dash macro and a parry macro can also be assigned to the buttons. Dashes can also be entered via Light+Medium and Parries with Light+Heavy.
Riot Games also released a short "How to Play" video to mark the release of the demo on EVO 2023:
07
The philosophy behind the game
Tony and Tom Cannon emphasise that they do not want to make 2XKO "simple", even though its control scheme is seen as fairly straightforward. As veterans of the FGC, they know that a large part of the fascination comes from watching experts use a character in a way you would never have thought of yourself. This creates motivation and the will to get to that level. They say those who put more time into the game should be rewarded for it.
It's not about beginners having the chance to beat a pro. It's about having fun at every skill level
A short presentation of the champion Ekko follows this. The Cannons use this opportunity to give fighting game connoisseurs a few deeper insights into the movement of 2XKO. They demonstrated the possibility of cancelling dashes using duck movements and creating a wave dash, as seen in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, for example. Ekko's detailed demonstration also clarifies how much passion and creativity went into the realisation of well-known champions for 2XKO.
Back dash cancels could be an important part of 2XKO
© Riot Games
08
Movement in 2XKO
Players should be able to move as freely as possible. According to Riot, the following movement options will be available to almost all characters:
- Walk
- Run
- Dash
- Chain Dash
- Jump
- Long Jump
- Super Jump
Jeannail 'Cuddle_Core' Carter at Combo Breaker
© Kena Krutsinger/Red Bull Content Pool
Characters also offer unique ways to move; Ahri, for example, has an air dash in her kit.
09
Free to play
Much like other titles in the Riot Games line-up, 2XKO will be free to play. Exact info on the payment model has not yet been confirmed. This would not be the first fighting game to try this framework. The reboot of Killer Instinct was already free to play. You could play a rotating selection of fighters without having to pay money. However, you had to pull out your credit card to unlock characters permanently.
With the early access launch, we've seen so far that cosmetic items are available to purchase, as well as character unlock tokens, and in-game currency. There is also a premium battle pass available, too, as well as bundles that combine a mix of the above.
10
Confirmed characters
Ahri hits Darius after a successful air-dash attack
© Riot Games
The launch of the game into early access also showcased the latest character to join the roster, Warwick. As it stands, the full cast of characters is as follows:
- Ekko
- Ahri
- Darius
- Yasuo
- Illaoi
- Braum
- Jinx
- Blitzcrank
- Teemo
- Vi
- Warwick
