Riot Games is preparing to launch their highly anticipated new project set in the League of Legends universe — a team-based fighting game called 2XKO, which was first announced in 2019. Recently, the developers released the initial official videos of the game, and now 2XKO is in public testing and being streamed widely on Twitch and other platforms.
The public test of 2XKO has quickly drawn a large audience. The game rapidly outpaced the popularity of established titles like Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8, largely due to coverage by top streamers and esports professionals.
Although 2XKO is not scheduled for official release until 2025, it is currently in public testing. The developers are using this phase to test server capacities and gather feedback from players and viewers. The developers have announced that the testing phase will run until August 19, allowing players approximately 12 days to try out the new title. There is a possibility that the public testing period may be extended, similar to what occurred with the shooter Valorant.
To take part in the testing, you must submit an application and register on the official 2KXO website. The testing will be available exclusively to players from Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
On August 8th, streams of 2XKO surged on Twitch, and by the end of the day, the game had accumulated nearly 300,000 Hours Watched, ranking it among the top 30 most-watched games on the platform for that day.
Currently, 2XKO is performing impressively on Twitch, having already outpaced Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 in audience reach. As of this article’s publication, 2XKO has accumulated over 653,500 HW time. The average viewership in its category stands at 23,000, with peak concurrent viewers reaching 60,000. In contrast, during the same timeframe, Street Fighter 6 recorded 484,500 HW time and an average of 15,100 viewers, although its peak concurrent viewership was slightly higher.
It’s also important to note that 2XKO has outperformed other fighting games in both average and peak unique channels, highlighting its strong appeal not only to viewers but also to streamers.
In the first 24 hours of 2XKO’s public testing, American streamer Maximilian_DOOD emerged as the most-watched, with his broadcasts accumulating approximately 69,500 HW. Meanwhile, the highest peak concurrent viewership was achieved by LIRIK, whose stream attracted 19,400 simultaneous viewers.
Several popular streamers have also taken notice of 2XKO, including Kamet0, Etoiles, YoDa, and EsfandTV. The game has been featured by renowned esports fighters SonicFox and Leffen, with Leffen notably leading in broadcast time, dedicating over 16 hours to the game in less than a day.
Around 24 hours after the launch of extensive Twitch streams, the 2XKO category soared to the seventh spot among the platform’s most popular categories. Riot Games’ new title surpassed major competitors such as Call of Duty: Warzone, Apex Legends, Counter-Strike, and Dota 2.
