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Riot Strips Ranked and Battle Passes From 2XKO as It Winds the Game Down

Patch 1.3.1, the first major update since Riot announced 2XKO's active development ends in December, adds a new champion while removing nearly every live-service system.

Meridians Tech Desk

Published 9 September 2026 · Updated 9 September 2026 · 4 min read

Riot Strips Ranked and Battle Passes From 2XKO as It Winds the Game DownGaming
Photo: Photo by Yan Krukau / Pexels (Pexels License — free to use, no attribution legally required (credited above as good practice).)

The short answer

  • Riot Games shipped 2XKO Patch 1.3.1 on September 8, 2026, the first major patch since it announced active development on the fighting game will end in December 2026.
  • The patch adds a new champion, Lux, and permanently unlocks every champion for every player while removing ranked mode, battle passes, Champion Tokens and most of the in-game store.
  • Riot cited insufficient player retention as the reason for winding down development, despite well-received champion releases; all purchases made before August 20, 2026 are being refunded.
  • After December, Riot says servers will stay online indefinitely for online and offline play, with one more champion (Samira) and a final bug-fix patch still planned.

Riot Games shipped 2XKO's first major update since announcing last month that it's ending active development on the free-to-play fighting game. Patch 1.3.1, released September 8, adds a new character but strips out nearly every system tied to ongoing monetization.

What changed in Patch 1.3.1

  • New champion: Lux, Lady of Luminosity, an all-rounder mage, plus 15 new Augments (five of them Lux-specific).
  • Ranked mode is disabled, replaced by skill-based casual matchmaking; every champion is now unlocked automatically for every player.
  • Battle Pass and Champion Tokens are removed from the game; the rotating shop and Starter Editions are gone; KO Points can no longer be purchased. The only remaining store item is a $39.99 2XKO Ultimate Bundle. The previous 12,000 Credits cap has been removed.
  • Private Lobbies now support 40 players with lobby-wide voice chat, and the patch lists more than 40 bug fixes plus balance changes — including cutting Freestyle's Break-meter penalty from 35 percent to 20 percent and requiring getup attacks to hold an input for 4 frames instead of hitting a specific frame window.

Why the game is winding down

Riot announced on August 20, 2026 that 2XKO's active development will conclude at the end of 2026, saying it hadn't seen enough players stick with the game to reach a path toward sustainability. Riot said this held even though champion releases (Akali, Senna, Thresh) and competitive events were well received — there was no meaningful, sustained change in 2XKO's trajectory. Anyone who made a purchase before August 20, 2026 is getting a refund to their original payment method.

What happens after December

Riot says servers will stay online indefinitely for both online and offline play. One more champion, Samira, is planned for October, and a final bug-fix patch is planned for December. The Competitive Series continues through November 2026.

Sources

Every factual claim above is traceable to these documents. Check them — that is why they are here.

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Meridians Tech Desk is an editorial desk at Meridians, not an individual. A desk byline means the article was produced and fact-checked to that desk's published standards. Read our editorial standards and corrections policy.

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