2XKOis Riot’s big step into the fighting game space, taking cues from generations of titles while still remaining firmly rooted in the world ofLeague of Legends. The free-to-play fighting game employs a 2v2 tag-team system, allowing players to swap in a teammate with the press of a button. Although the game only has ten characters confirmed for launch (including fan favorites like Jinx, Ekko, and Ahri), more champions from across Runeterra will be released after launch. For fans of the fighting genre andthe world ofLeague of Legends,2XKOis a particularly exciting development.
It’s also not the onlyLeague of Legendsspin-off that’s been expanding Riot’s fortunes. Six years in,Teamfight Tacticshas become a staple of the strategy game scene with a player base of over 300 million people. That title is taking the next big step into the competitive scene, with a focus on bringing the average player along for the ride. In an interview with Screen Rant, Global Head of Esports forTFTand2XKOMichael Sherman discussed the evolution of the fighting game and the expansion ofTFTinto a competitive space for players.
2XKO Brings Runeterra Into The Ring
We’re Really Trying To Be Additive And Partner With The Fighting Game Community That’s Already Been Built."
Currently slated for a 2025 release, Michael Sherman believes that “we’re still so early in2XKO’s life cycle. I think for us, the big thing that we are really taking to heart is that there’s already a really passionate community that has been building fighting games to an incredible scale, with passion and fuel for people who really love fighting games. At Riot, what we want to be really careful about is entering that space in a way that is authentic to fighting game players.”
This is why Riot has been eager to playtest the title, releasing the alpha and beta models of the game for brief windows earlier this year. “We’re making sure that we’re partnering directly with that community, rather than creating something that is our version of what they’re doing… we’re really trying to be additive and partner with the fighting game community that’s already built. We’re making sure that we’re going directly to them to ask them what they need, and trying to reduce the intermediaries that are speaking for the fighting game community as a whole.”
Those playtests have been a valuable tool for Sherman and his team, with the2XKOandTFTdirector noting that “the progression from Alpha lab took a ton of feedback from the players. There were a lot of comments around the pacing of combat and how it felt a little too slow, how it can felt a little too punishing. Now there’s a larger capability for defense. We’ve shown that we can go into the other direction. How do we land a little bit more in the middle as we go forward?”
“You only get those lessons when you see the game played at scale by a variety of different skill levels. One of the things that’s hardest with internal testing is you want skill levels that you’re able to see at scale versus others, see those equally matched players. It’s one thing that we know who all the good players are, and how to bring them all in to play against each other, but getting a good sample of players with different affinities and different champion types and styles, seeing them play at equal match-ups, really gives us a fuller picture of the game.”
The world ofLeague of Legendsboasts over 140 champions at the time of writing. This means2XKOhas a wide universe of potential character choicesto bring into the fighting game. While Sherman wouldn’t reveal too much about the planned number of playable characters, he did explain that the internal process of choosing fighters “has always been about looking at the League of Legends roster and what archetypes from fighting games we can pull in. I think that’s the fun part of the League roster. You can look at the different champions and imagine this one as a grappler.”
“How do you bring them to life as a grappler in a fighting game? Part of the fun is that creative challenge. The game is always going to be getting better. The version of 2XKO that is going to launch later this year will be the worst version you’ll ever play [Laughter]. It will only get better and better with time. That’s true of all our games. I think that’s the really exciting thing for me…The way we’ve wanted to roll out our alpha labs has been an opportunity to do broader check-ins with the community, understand when we’re hitting the mark, and make sure the game is where it needs to be.”
For Sherman, one of the most exciting aspects of2XKOis the way it has given him a chance to play in a new sandbox. “I am not a fighting game native. I’m a big strategy game player, so coming over to TFT was a scene I knew really well. I knew gameplay really well. I’ve played a variety of fighting games, and I have a long appreciation for fighting games, but it hasn’t been until this role that I’ve had the opportunity to really immerse myself and be part of the fighting game community.
“That’s been the fun part for me. I’ve worked on League of Legends, I’ve worked on TFT, I helped give insight on early Valorant, it’s been really cool to enter a space where am so new. It’s been fun to bring a bunch of my experience and my background from these other games and try to figure out what’s the right thing to bring in.”
Taking Teamfight Tactics To The Next Level
“TFT Got To Be Part Of This Wave Of Evolution That’s Happening More Broadly In eSports.”
Michael Sherman is also the director ofTeamfight Tactics, Riots' strategy spin-off ofLeague of Legendsthat had a 300 million-strong player base as of last year. The latest release, set 15, takes visual cues from anime. Looking back at the process the team takes when choosing the aesthetic of each new set, Sherman explained that “we go through this process every year. We have three sets a year, we go through a pretty detailed thematic pitch process that involves Rioters from across the games team, and get feedback from different leadership.
We spend so much time on the creative seed behind everything, and how that can be reflected in gameplay. There are a lot of questions that are meant to be answered along the way. Do the publishing team and the marketing team feel like there’s something that they could rally around and build upon? It ends up in a scenario where, going into 2025, we knew the whole road map and could leave the crime-ridden world of Cyber City and head into the KO Coliseum.”
TFThas been one of the most prominent auto-battlers on the market, which has helped transform the live-service strategy game into one of the largest modern PC strategy titles. This success has led to an increased focus on formal competition, including the debut of the TFT Pro Circuit, a revamped Regional Finals system, and a new experimental tournament system. “It’s been a ton of fun to build an eSport and competitive scene alongside that.”
“I think that the first thing whenever you’re building any sort of competitive ecosystem, is you have to ask yourself — do you have a bunch of players who really want to play this game? If you do, it makes it 10 times easier to build that ecosystem. You get the stories, the upsets, the personalities, the new people coming in. I feel really lucky to work on a game like TFT… I feel like TFT got to be part of this wave of evolution that’s happening more broadly in eSports.”
A big part of that process has been eschewing the typical trappings of modern eSports, which the company excels at elsewhere thanks toLeague of Legends. “When I started in this role, my realization was how people were not necessarily watching TFT, but saying how much they would like to play it competitively. It kind of shifted around entirely how we build a game or an eSport or a competitive scene for that audience. We’ve really shifted from this mentality where we’re building an eSport.”
“When you think eSport, you think stadiums and crowds. Instead, we are building this rich, competitive ecosystem where players can see playing TFT competitive as an extension of the core game. A new set like KO Coliseum means that you get to play a new set competitively, as well. Maybe this is your set. Maybe this is the set where you go up to a platinum player and you’re going to claim the masters for the first time to qualify for your first tournament. We want to create something that feels superinterwoven for our players, eSports but broadened for the larger landscape.”
