Why 2XKO’s upcoming closed beta could make it hit the ground running for esports events 

With Riot Games’ newest title, the free-to-play fighting game 2XKO, set to arrive later this year for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and PC, a closed beta has been announced for September.

For those unaware, 2XKO is a 2v2 tag-team fighting game that will initially feature 10 characters from the League of Legends (LoL) world, such as Ahri, Jinx, and more, all with various abilities to help put the match in their favour. It’s an interesting move from Riot Games to go into the fighting game genre with 2XKO, while also capitalizing on characters from its other titles, all contained within a game that has an impressively looking comic-book art style.

With 2XKO’s closed beta taking place from September 9 until the game’s official launch, here’s why some new features could make their mark in esports as a whole once it launches later this year.

It’s no secret that 2XKO has long been anticipated, ever since it was announced way back in 2019, but its beginnings go even further than that. Before Riot Games bought Radiant Entertainment in March 2016, the developer was working on a free-to-play game called Rising Thunder. Looking at videos of the game when it was being made, it’s not difficult to see some similarities to 2XKO, such as the gameplay, parts of the user interface, and some of the art style.

Once Radiant Entertainment belonged to Riot Games, Radiant Thunder was cancelled and was allegedly put to work on 2XKO right away, so it’s not a stretch to assume that the game has been in development for roughly nine years at this point. It’s taken a while to get to the closed beta, with 2XKO previously announced as Project L in 2019, and several beta tests have been made available since, alongside a bunch of characters being announced for the game.

But with the closed beta, it essentially represents a launch of the game, without saying it’s a launch. In its blog post, Riot Games confirms that the closed beta will run from September 9 until the day of launch, which is yet to be confirmed. Essentially, this means that players who get access to the closed beta will be able to play the game as intended, but also give feedback to Riot Games throughout the period. It’s the modern-day similarity to a demo disk of the ’90s, but one that can change and be refined over time.

It’s a smart approach from Riot Games, too, as the closed beta can also allow a certain number of players by its choosing, meaning it can send a code to prolific esports players, streamers who have covered its other titles in the past, and more. This way, Riot Games can build up hype and also control it by drip-feeding updates and potentially unannounced characters until launch day.

But when could that be? The 2XKO subreddit is more focused on the closed beta rather than the release date for now, but we suspect it will be around the end of October. Having the closed beta for six weeks is more than enough time for Riot Games to refine 2XKO for launch and get rid of any major bugs or broken balance mechanics for some characters.

Granted, the closed beta won’t be hosted at any esports events, for the most obvious reason being that 2XKO is still a game in development, and things can change in the lead up to launch. Having it at an event simply wouldn’t be fair, and could give the wrong impression of how the game plays before any crucial patches are applied.

However, the closed beta can at least build up hype for 2XKO’s launch and its subsequent appearance at esports events. We’re yet to hear about its other modes, like training, arcade, team battle, and potentially others. Even cosmetics, which are a big part of Riot Games’ other titles, have barely been mentioned for 2XKO. We can’t help but think that the closed beta will reveal mostly all of this. 

Almost every mode and every cosmetic could and should be revealed up to the game’s launch. This way, hype can be generated for fans and esports players, so that once 2XKO is available on all platforms, it’s essentially a shoo-in at events like EVO and the Esports World Cup (EWC).

At the time of writing, we’re roughly a month from the closed beta being made available to those who manage to get access, so it’s also possible that we’ll be seeing Riot Games drip-feed new announcements as we get closer to September 9. But as it stands, the developer has a great opportunity with the closed beta to generate hype, and Riot Games clearly knows it.

2XKO is a game that’s been long-anticipated by fans of League of Legends (LoL) and other titles from Riot Games. To see the developer dip its toe into the fighting-game genre is alluring to many, as players are interested to see how it takes its learnings from previous titles and implements them into 2XKO.

Having allegedly been in development for almost a decade, it’s great that the game is finally going to be made available later this year. Having the closed beta before the launch is a great idea, as mentioned above, as it’s only going to build up hype for how 2XKO will work at several esports events, which seems inevitable at this point.

We’re now approaching the final stages of 2XKO, and after so long, it seems like the wait will be worth it for players and esports events worldwide.