Riot Games lays off roughly 80 employees from 2XKO team
Developer Riot Games has announced it is laying off around 80 employees working on 2XKO, the League of Legends-themed fighting game.
The company shared the news in a blog post penned by 2XKO executive producer Tom Cannon. Cannon wrote that Riot was “reducing the size of the 2XKO team.” A spokesperson for Riot Games informed Game Developer that approximately 80 workers were laid off, around half of the game’s global development team.
Cannon appeared to blame the layoffs on sluggish player engagement with the freshly-released fighting game. “As we expanded from PC to console, we saw consistent trends in how players were engaging with 2XKO,” he wrote. “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.”
2XKO spent an exceptionally long time in development. In 2016 Riot Games acquired Radiant Entertainment, a fighting game studio founded by Tom and Tony Cannon. The team would spend a decade iterating on the game that would eventually become 2XKO.
He indicated Riot is not discontinuing support from the game, saying that with its “smaller, focused team,” the developer will continue to work on “key improvements” for the game. Riot will continue to partner with fighting game community (FGC) tournament organizers and local communities. “We’re reshaping the team to give 2XKO a more sustainable path forward.”
Impacted workers will be given a chance to apply for jobs elsewhere within Riot Games. Those who cannot find other positions will be offered a minimum of 6 months pay and severance.
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