Riot Founder demands millions of players for 2XKO survival
When developers spend years and millions of dollars crafting a game, the question isn’t just whether it’s fun—it’s whether it can sustain itself. For some projects, the answer turns out to be an astronomical number, and the recent comments from Riot Games leadership have ignited a lively debate about the realities of live service game development.
Marc Merrill, co-founder, co-chairman, and chief product officer of Riot Games, recently shed light on the behind-the-scenes challenges of a high-profile project, <2XKO>. He revealed the staggering number of monthly active users the game would have needed to justify the immense investment of time and resources poured into its development, and the figure proved to be far more ambitious than many expected.
Merrill explained that to rationalize the cost and time spent on <2XKO>, the game would have required a player base numbering in the high hundreds of thousands, if not millions. This figure immediately placed the project in a category many felt was unrealistic for a fighting game, given the genre’s relatively niche appeal.
The context for this discussion was stark. Merrill noted that the release of Street Fighter 6 threw a significant shift in the fighting game community’s focus, pulling attention away from the legacy of Street Fighter V. He reflected on the timeline, pointing out that the development of <2XKO> spanned nearly eight years before the major competition emerged.
“We had an awesome development team of really talented people that did great work, that made a beautiful game,” Merrill shared. “We had a window to do some great things to really help the fighting game community, and then Street Fighter 6 came out.” He suggested that had <2XKO> launched earlier, years before the subsequent releases, it could have made a far more significant impact on the community.
The internal process itself presented another hurdle. Merrill acknowledged that Riot lacked internal alignment on the strategy for <2XKO>, which led to what he described as managerial fracturing and confusion within the team. Ultimately, the lack of necessary player engagement meant Riot made the tough call: they issued full refunds to players and canceled further content updates.
This decision, Merrill explained, was rooted in the game’s performance. While <2XKO> resonated with some players, it simply did not achieve the live service goals it was designed for. The outcome was a pivot, emphasizing community goodwill rather than pushing a product that lacked the necessary traction.
When compared to market standards, the contrast is stark. Street Fighter 6, the current juggernaut, boasts an average of between 16,000 and 20,000 monthly active users on Steam. While it is understandable that Riot, known for its massively popular MOBA, might anticipate larger numbers, even the company acknowledged that reaching “millions” of monthly active users was simply unattainable for a title in this specific genre.
Merrill’s comments sparked a wave of heated reactions across the fighting game community. Many players were left stunned that the company felt such massive player numbers were necessary to keep <2XKO> afloat, especially considering the genre’s scope. Some users suggested that the company seemed to release the game to gauge its viability rather than immediately canceling it, questioning the expectation that a niche fighting game could achieve such success.
From its initial reveal as ‘Project L’ in 2019, the development of <2XKO> navigated a complex path, including transitions between closed beta and extended early access. Despite the lengthy development, Riot ultimately announced plans to end active development after December 2026, though online play would remain supported.
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