Six years ago, Riot announced it was working on a 2v2 fighting game based on League of Legends called Project L and it’s been relatively tight-lipped about it ever since. It wasn’t until last year that there were some signs of life when it got renamed to 2XKO and a series of YouTube videos gave us a peek at what it will look like in action.
In a new video today, we finally have confirmation that it’s definitely still real and will be playable very soon.
After a short gameplay tease featuring new character Vi, executive producer Tom Cannon reassured fans that the game is still alive and well and that it will be playable in a PC-only closed beta starting on September 9.
“Closed beta marks the start of us rolling out this game for everyone,” he said. “Our goal is to keep the game up, online, and available from here on out.”
Cannon said the goal of the beta is to refine the “backend systems” and to expect things to “start out a little bumpy at first.” He said anyone who has participated in past alpha tests will automatically be invited along with a chunk of new players too. And as time goes on, more waves of invites will go out.
2XKO will also be playable at Riot’s booth during EVO 2025, which runs from August 1 to 3 in Las Vegas. There you’ll be able to play Vi and tell your friends that you saw Riot’s fighting game with your own eyes.
Previously, Riot had text on the site that said the game was coming in 2025, but that seems to have been removed shortly before today’s announcement. Given some of the recent playtest delays, however, I doubt anyone will be surprised if it slips into next year.
You can sign up for the closed beta on the game’s website.