Riot cuts 80 employees 3 weeks after League of Legends spinoff celebrates official launch: "We're reshaping the team to give 2XKO a more sustainable path"

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"I want you to know that decision wasn't made lightly," says executive producer Tom Cannon

2XKO trailer still of Vi fighter reveal
(Image credit: Riot Games)

League of Legends spinoff fighting game 2XKO just enjoyed its full, official launch on January 20 and now, just three weeks later, Riot has laid off a number of its developers.

Game Developer reports about 80 employees have been impacted by what executive producer Tom Cannon is describing in an announcement post as "an important update on 2XKO."

"As we expanded from PC to console, we saw consistent trends in how players were engaging with 2XKO," Cannon explains. "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." He promises, "This isn't a judgment on individual Rioters or a signal that the journey is over. We're reshaping the team to give 2XKO a more sustainable path forward."

Ashley Bardhan
Ashley Bardhan
Senior Writer

Ashley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.

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