2XKO would have needed an MAU base "in the high hundreds of thousands, if not millions" to succeed

2XKO would have needed an MAU base "in the high hundreds of thousands, if not millions" to succeed Riot Games CPO Marc Merrill says while 2XKO resonated with some players, its audience was "not nearly enough" to support a live service model Riot Games' 2XKO would have had to attract a base of monthly active users "in the high hundreds of thousands, if not millions" to be sustainable, according to CPO Marc Merrill. On The Lemonade Stand podcast (as spotted by IGN), Riot's co-founder and co-chairman stated that although the game resonated with some players, the audience was "not nearly enough" to support the game's intended live service model. 2XKO ended active development in August, as it cost "substantially more to operate than it [brought] in, and engagement stayed relatively flat despite larger updates." The game is still playable and free to download on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, with servers remaining online "beyond 2026." In addition to the need for a large player base, Merrill cited the release of Street Fighter 6 as a factor in 2XKO's unsuccessful launch. Let's see what happens." He added: "I think if we came out, ideally when we should've, years before Street Fighter, I think we would have made a really significant impact." Merrill also discussed Riot's 2016 acquisition of Radiant Entertainment, noting that its free-to-play title Rising Thunder, released in alpha in 2015, was a major inspiration for 2XKO.