Riot Games says it’s ‘downsizing’ the 2XKO development team, after a disappointing launch
Riot claims it will make improvements with “a smaller, focused team”
Riot Games has announced it’s downsizing the development team behind its League of Legends fighting game 2XKO, just weeks after it left early access and launched for consoles.
In a statement, the developer said that, following its full launch on January 21, the free-to-play title “hasn’t reached the level needed support a team of this size long term”.
Executive producer Tom Cannon claimed that affected employees would be supported either with roles on different teams or a “minimum” of 6 months of notice pay and severance.
The scale of layoffs isn’t yet clear, but former producer Patrick Miller claimed on BlueSky that he’d been laid off “with 30 minutes’ notice” after working on 2XKO in some form for a decade.
“I wanted to take a moment to share an important update on 2XKO. This is a difficult update to share, but we want to be clear about what’s changing and why,” Cannon wrote in Riot’s statement.
“After a lot of discussion and reflection, we are reducing the size of the 2XKO team. I want you to know that the decision wasn’t made lightly.”
The statement continues: “As we expanded from PC to console, we saw consistent trends in how players were engaging with 2XKO. 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.
“With a smaller, focused team, we’re going to dig in and make key improvements to the game, including some of the things we’ve already heard you asking for. We’ll share some of our plans soon.”
Cannon said it’s “understandable” that questions will be raised about the future of 2XKO, but claimed that Riot’s plans for the 2026 Competitive Series are unchanged.
He also shared some words on the affected developers who worked on the game, stating: “The people who helped ship 2XKO poured years of creativity, care, and belief into this game. Taking creative risks like this is hard, and the work they did is real and meaningful.
“We’re committed to supporting impacted Rioters through this transition – including helping them explore opportunities within Riot where possible, and providing a minimum of 6 months of notice pay and severance where it’s not.”
