Okay, Evo Vegas 2026 changed my mind about 2XKO: It will survive, but only as an esport

I have never been a fan of 2XKO. I’ve made that pretty clear in my recent debate with my colleague over the survival of 2XKO. Hint: I said it won’t make it past 2027. However, this was based on Riot’s shortcomings in the game’s launch and marketing strategy, as well as the dwindling number of players and viewers.

After attending Evo Vegas 2026, I have a different opinion. I am not really taking back anything I’ve already said about the game: I still don’t think it will retain a casual player base. But I think it may survive as an esport.

Ever since I played the demo of Riot’s 2v2 fighter at Evo Vegas 2025, I believed the game felt awful. As the developers themselves admitted, the game was overly complex. If you are new to the game without much of a competitive background, you essentially feel you are floundering around and that nothing you do leads to anything meaningful. That can feel very frustrating. And boring.

Most fighting games have realized the importance of bringing in new players. Street Fighter 6 introduced Modern Controls that require fewer inputs, and Tekken 8 has Special Style for simplified combos. These things allow new players to do less frustrated mashing and more impactful and satisfying moves.

“Fighting games require command inputs. You have to do it at the right time and right speed. That takes a lot of muscle memory, of course, fast reactions, fast planning. That’s something you grow as a skill. It’s not something you come out of the gate with,” Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves Producer Shinya Tamaki told me at Evo Vegas when I asked why fighting games are so focused on new players compared to games like Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2.

However, 2XKO doesn’t really have that. The development team behind 2XKO is full of super-involved and OG fighting game professionals who have been in the scene for a long time. While this made the game sound promising, it actually proved to be one of its flaws: the game heavily catered to players who already know how to play.

2XKO doesn’t have the wide appeal Riot had hoped for. The company admitted as much in February 2026, when it stated that the game “hasn’t reached the level” needed to keep the team together. This was followed by a huge round of layoffs. From the start, Riot wanted 2XKO to defy the usual fighting-game standards and achieve mainstream appeal, even relying on expensive skins as it does in other titles.

But it quickly learned that having League of Legends champions on the roster wasn’t enough to do that. It’s a fighting game, and a complex one at that.

I am still pretty confident that 2XKO will not really grow, especially not as other fighting games come out with multi-character rosters that are much easier to play and offer a more fluid fighting style. Invincible VS and Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls are both a lot more beginner-friendly while still offering creative, high-IQ play.

However, I no longer think 2XKO is completely dead.

Previously, I argued that 2XKO will be dead because the player count continues to plummet. I’m not taking back that the player count is bad. However, I think 2XKO will not die; it will live on as an esport. People aren’t playing it, but they are watching.

When I went to Evo Vegas 2026, I said that my biggest goal was to watch the 2XKO Top 8. This was the first time that 2XKO was featured on the Main Stage at Evo, which is a huge deal (even if Evo is losing its prestige). I wanted to see how it was as an esport. It was only fair.

And OMG, it was f***ing amazing.

While the gameplay is a bit complex for those of us who don’t want to grind 2XKO and just want to have a bit of fun, that high-level play is perfect for an esport. Watching the top players use all of the champions to their full potential – finding the right positioning in neutral, countering incoming attacks, pulling off insane combos – was super satisfying and exhilarating. 2XKO takes a ton of mental prowess, and you can see the players learning from their opponents in real time, finding and addressing their faults.

Then there is the 2v2 aspect. I still don’t think this is all that game-changing for casual players, but it’s so cool to see it on stage as an esport. The 2XKO Top 8 featured two powerful duos and six solo players, creating very interesting battles that you won’t see in Street Fighter or Tekken.

“I definitely watch their VODs and habits,” winner Jo’siah “Hikari” Miller said of his preparation for taking down duos. “They’re two different people, so two different mindsets. It’s really difficult.”

You have some players juggling two champions while calculating two opponents’ moves. Then you have some players seemingly on the same wavelength, swapping in and out between one another like a dance. It makes for a super fun and dynamic watch.

Then there are the storylines. Dominique “SonicFox” McLean and Lenwood “Inzem” Arnold are an unstoppable force, with SonicFox holding eight Evo wins across multiple titles. Then you have the Japanese twins, who seem to just read each other’s minds. There is also bleed, a teenager who was known as an “online warrior” until he dominated at a few big tourneys this year. William “Leffen” Hjelte is a controversial Super Smash Bros. Melee player who has been one of SonicFox’s rivals.

What made 2XKO have such an interesting esports scene is the timing. It came out right before Frosty Faustings, and many pros from other scenes wanted to give it a try. They figured, “Why not? It’s backed by Riot; there is probably money in this scene compared to my own.” This brought in many veteran players from a variety of games, creating a built-in esports scene for 2XKO full of well-known pros.

It’s a bit tough for new players to come in now. Most brackets are stacked with these players, who have been grinding right from the start. But it makes for some incredible Top 8’s. The fans are going crazy, the storylines are nuts, the gameplay is mindblowing.

So… I’ll admit I was sort of wrong. 2XKO is not gonna be a huge game like Riot wanted. It’s not gonna remain popular in the FGC, even. However, I think it will live on as an esport if it can keep up the hype. And I hope it does, because that was an incredible experience.