Riot Games has laid off approximately 80 developers who worked on 2XKO, its long-in-development League of Legends fighting game, less than three weeks after the title launched on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The move comes as the company reassesses the game’s performance and scales back the team to focus on what it calls “key improvements” for players.
In a blog post addressing the layoffs, executive producer Tom Cannon said that while 2XKO has found a passionate core audience, it hasn’t reached the level of growth Riot expected after expanding from PC to consoles.
— Riot Games (@riotgames) February 9, 2026
“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 wrote.
He added that Riot plans to keep the game’s 2026 Competitive Series running and maintain partnerships with fighting game community (FGC) tournament organisers.
2XKO, formerly known as Project L, has been in development at Riot for nearly a decade. The tag-team fighter, built around co-op play and set in the League of Legends universe, entered early access on PC in November 2025 following several closed tests and public betas. Its full console release arrived on January 20, 2026, marking the game’s biggest milestone yet and making the layoffs feel especially sudden to many fans and developers alike.
Riot says in the post that impacted employees will receive six months of notice pay and severance if they aren’t placed elsewhere in the company. However, the human cost of the layoffs has already begun surfacing online.
One developer shared on Bluesky that they were laid off with roughly 30 minutes’ notice after spending nearly a decade on 2XKO and more than 12 years at Riot, highlighting the emotional toll behind the studio’s business decision.
Ten years on 2XKO, 12 at Riot and I got laid off with 30min notice lol Gonna take some time.
— Smokage of the Burning Leaf (@pattheflip.bsky.social) 2026-02-09T19:45:23.872Z
Despite the cuts, Riot insists that 2XKO isn’t being abandoned. Cannon said the remaining team is actively working on improvements requested by the community, and the company plans to continue supporting esports initiatives around the game. For players, that means ongoing updates and competitive events are still on the roadmap even as the development team becomes significantly smaller.
The layoffs also arrive during a challenging period for the games industry more broadly, which has seen widespread job cuts across major publishers and studios over the past year. For Riot, the decision underscores how even high-profile projects tied to massive franchises like League of Legends aren’t immune to performance pressures once they hit the market.
For now, 2XKO remains live, its competitive circuit is moving forward, and Riot says it’s committed to refining the experience for its dedicated fanbase. Still, the situation serves as another reminder of how volatile game development can be even for projects that take nearly a decade to bring to players.
Emmanuel Umahi
