Riot Games is moving its free-to-play fighter 2XKO from closed beta into early access on October 7, after a positive reception from players and press during the beta that began on September 16. That matters because Riot has been iterating quickly during the test, pushing patches and adding a tenth fighter as it preps the game for wider play.
How the beta landed
The closed beta has been running on PC since September 16 and has drawn praise for its fast-paced tag-team combat, a steep but rewarding learning curve, and a responsive parry system. Players and content creators have been comparing aspects of the game to classic fighters, with some threads likening 2XKO’s combos and blocking to Street Fighter. The beta also includes ranked and practice modes that have already become fixtures for players sharpening their skills.
There are currently 10 characters available in the beta, with the latest being Teemo. Riot has pushed regular updates to address balance issues. A September 23 update targeted adjustments to Vi and Blitzcrank, among other balance tweaks, and Riot says it will continue to refine characters in response to player feedback.
Riot’s approach
What’s working for Riot is simple and a little humble, small, frequent fixes and active engagement with the community. The studio has been quick to nerf overly strong attacks and fix problematic defence windows instead of waiting to roll everything into a single pre-launch patch. They also added new content mid-beta, which kept momentum and gave players more to test.
Riot has announced Season 0 will begin on October 7 as the game moves into early access, and it’s also launching a program called First Impact to sponsor 22 community-run tournaments through the end of 2025. Those sorts of moves suggest that Riot is considering both short-term balancing and a longer-term competitive scene.
What we still don’t know
While the closed beta and early access reveal have raised expectations, the beta has been PC-only so far, and Riot has not confirmed whether early access will arrive on consoles at launch. The original beta roster and tag-team mechanics pay a clear nod to games like Dragon Ball FighterZ and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 in terms of feel, and the training tools in the game are robust enough to make learning characters straightforward for newcomers and competitive players alike.
Let us know what you think in the comments, especially if you’ve been in the beta. Follow us on X and Bluesky.
