It's been almost six years and one name change, but 2XKO (formerly Project L) finally opened its doors as part of a closed beta earlier this month. If you've been one of the unlucky folk begging all your mates for an invite code to no avail, don't fret: the tag fighter is throwing open the gate to all players much sooner than I expected.
Riot just revealed that 2XKO will officially enter early access on October 7. No more closed beta, no more invite codes. The bad news is that it's still a PC-only deal—despite our PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S pals being included back in the 2024 beta, they're still being left out of the main event for now. There's no word on when the game'll go multi-platform just yet, unfortunately.
But for those of us on PC, early access marks the start of 'Season 0' as well as the debut of 2XKO's 10th champion, which Riot is still keeping firmly under wraps. Well, it's trying anyway. A datamine of the game's upcoming battle pass included a graphic of Braum, Yasuo, and Darius sporting new costumes alongside a picture of rat mascot Teemo. The latter of whom isn't exactly in the game yet.
The official 2XKO X account responded to the datamine with a cheeky "how'd that get in there," which doesn't exactly smack of denial. Riot is keeping mum on the whole thing right now, but whoever it is will be playable right from the early access launch.
Riot also says that anything obtained during early access—like cosmetics, champs, and mastery rewards—will carry over when the full game launches at some point in the future. Looking to 2026, Riot says the next year will see five additional seasons, each one coming with a new champion and cosmetic rewards. That should hopefully fill out the roster quite nicely—for a tag fighter, I'd consider 2XKO to be a little on the thin side right now when it comes to character numbers.
And of course it's a fighting game, which means Riot is already gearing up to turn it into an all-out competitive spectacle. 2XKO will debut at EVO France—taking place just a few days after early access launch—with Riot chucking a little extra money into the prize pots across 22 upcoming tournaments.
I appreciate the developer's emphasis on the tournaments still being community-led while plumping the prize pot from afar, especially in the wake of sportswashing concerns with the Esports World Cup and the recent takeover of EVO by the Saudi Arabia city of Qiddiya. I think it's the right balance, one I hope Riot continues to take as 2XKO makes the tournament circuit rounds.
