- Riot co-founder Marc Merrill says 2XKO was not a mistake despite its recent discontinuation.
- The developer argues that games now compete against far more than just other games, making a success extremely challenging.
- He believes games need to do something truly extraordinary to stand out, something 2XKO failed to do.
Much like Valorant established the studio as a first-person shooter powerhouse, 2XKO was meant to make Riot Games a household name in the fighting games market.
Unfortunately, the team recently confirmed the end of support for 2XKO after just one year. Reflecting on the game’s failure and the team’s layoffs, the studio’s co-founder has discussed the title and stated that it wasn’t necessarily a mistake to aim for the fighting game market.
Why it matters: Multiple live-service games have failed and struggled recently, highlighting just how challenging this genre has become to break into.
Riot Games’ 2XKO has undoubtedly faced a tough road, and co-founder Marc Merrill has now offered his take on the situation. Speaking at Pax West 2026, Merrill said he does not believe 2XKO was a mistake, but acknowledged that getting people to invest time in a new game is harder than ever.
According to Merrill, the idea that 2XKO itself was the wrong bet is not necessarily correct. He argues that breaking into the free-to-play market is harder than ever, especially since developers have to compete with social media, other games, and more today.
When 2XKO was first developed, the team saw real potential for a fighting game based on League of Legends. He also noted that the team did a great job with 2XKO at the end of the day, even if things didn’t work out.
One of the challenges with free-to-play games is unless you do something so incredible, you’re not just competing against games, you’re competing against everything.
Marc Merrill says that although Riot Games had great intentions, the team unfortunately failed to do something truly spectacular that would help 2XKO stand out in the market. This is what ultimately led to the game’s failure.
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