Riot Games has slapped an official title on its League of Legends fighting game spin-off, previously codenamed Project L, and the fan base isn't too fond.
2XKO is now the game's official name, which pits the famous MOBA's cast against each other in 2v2 tag-team brawls. The name makes sense to me: there are two fighters and they want a knockout. Does it necessarily roll off the tongue? No, but how many video game names do? Regardless, League players are even less enthused.
League fans on the series' main subreddit called it a "car crash of a name," with some pointing out that pronouncing 2XKO in non-English languages would be near impossible. Others on Twitter even theorized that the divisive name might be a marketing stunt to generate discussion (like this article) before the team changes the name back to Project L, which is more boring or, hopefully, something better.
I'm not sure how likely that is since the Project L moniker was properly sliced to bits in the newest trailer below, but, odd name aside, 2XKO looks more than promising. Unlike some other tag-teaming fighting games, this one lets you play cooperatively and competitively, swapping between two characters throughout various punch-ups. (1v1 and 2v1 match-ups are also supported.) Champions confirmed to be playable currently include Ahri, Darius, Ekko, Illaoi, and Yasuo - though other favorites will probably join the roster before and after release.
Riot Games also revealed that 2XKO is coming out sometime in 2025 on PC, PS5, and Xbox consoles.
Project L was originally announced in 2019 alongside the company's plans to stretch League of Legends' tendrils outside the MOBA sphere. Those plans also included the great animated series Arcane and Riot Forge, the indie publishing label sadly shutting down amid company layoffs.
