Riot’s Fighting Game Just Got A Terrible New Name

Originally posted on Parade | By Oliver Brandt | Last updated Feb 23, 2024 12:30 PM ET

For the past few years, Riot Games has been working on a fighting game based on League of Legends. During development, it was known as Project L, with its official name said to be coming eventually. Riot has now announced the official name and, I’ll be honest, it’s pretty bad.

Riot Games officially pulled the sheet off its 2v2 tag-based fighting game yesterday, with a video revealing the title and showing off a little of the gameplay. It’s got League of Legends characters in it, of course, slick-looking gameplay, and an art style that definitely captures the spirit of League of Legends.

As you can see in the video above, it’s also called 2XKO. Yes, really. I mean, the logo is quite slick, I like that a lot, but 2XKO? That’s a messy name. It’s not short for “double knockout” or anything too, which would be a fine name for a game, it’s just straight up called 2XKO.

I’m not the only one who thinks so, either. The comments section on the announcement video are packed with people who aren’t exactly endeared to the new name.

One commenter called it “the dumbest, most ‘manager came up with it and everyone was too scared to speak out’ name” they’d ever heard. Another joked that Elon Musk must have chosen the name, and just about everyone agreed that it was just a bit too strange. On the upside, everyone also seems to agree that it looks great, and it absolutely does.

Riot Games is going to be previewing 2XKO at fighting game events over the next year or so, starting with Evo Japan in April 2024. Beta tests are expected to launch later in the year, while a full release is planned for 2025.

2XKO will be released on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Maybe if Nintendo’s announced its Switch successor by 2025, it’ll show up there, too.

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