Shooting, MOBA, racing... Among the many e-sports genres, one of the hottest is fighting games. On October 8, 2025 (Japan time), Riot Games, known for "League of Legends" and "Valorant," will launch a new free-to-play fighting game " 2XKO " in Early Access. We interviewed Shaun Rivera, the game director of "2XKO", at the Riot Games booth at the Tokyo Game Show 2025, where the excitement was still high!
Interview with Shaun Rivera, Game Director of "2XKO"!
- Please introduce yourself again.
Sean: My name is Sean and I am the game director of "2XKO" at Riot Games. I previously worked as a senior designer on " Legends of Runeterra ", but this is my first time making a fighting game. My favorite champion is Malzahar.
- You speak Japanese very well, don't you?
Sean: Not at all! (laughs) I studied abroad when I was in college and worked as an office worker in Japan for about two years after that. My wife is Japanese, and I still go back and forth between Japan and the US.
- "2XKO" has been a very long term project for you.
Sean: We first showed it to the world as "Project L" during the League of Legends 10th anniversary event. At the time, it was a one-on-one game, and when we asked players what they thought of it through playtesting, many of them said, "It's alright, it's fun," but I wanted to make a game that excited people, so I wasn't very happy with the results. As a result of thinking about "the fun of the game," we came to the conclusion that playing with friends is what makes it enjoyable.
- With "2XKO" you can play one-on-one, two-on-two, or one-on-two!
Sean: "2XKO" is designed with 2 players in mind, but of course there is also a 1-player option. However, it was very difficult to make the two players and the one player feel the same. This gave birth to the one-on-two style, which is also very interesting! It's like a boss battle (laughs). The appeal of this game is that it can be played by one, two, three, or four players.
- It's a free-to-play format, which is rare for a fighting game!
Sean: It's also a Riot Games commitment, like League of Legends and VALORANT. The only thing you buy are cosmetic items such as skins and chromas. We decided from the beginning not to make it a Pay to Win system.
- How did you choose the 10 champions that will be available at the start of Early Access?
Sean: I think 10 is a small number for the first playable characters. However, each of them has different mechanics and themes, and the lineup should allow everyone to find their main champion.
- Is there a possibility that there will be original champions in the future?
Sean: Basically, it will start with "League of Legends". The current "League of Legends" has over 170 unique champions, and if we were to release an original "2XKO" champion, we would be flooded with comments like, "Why is there a champion I don't know? I am very confident in my team, so I believe that we can implement any champion into "2XKO". If there is a champion you would like to see implemented, please let me know!
- What are your plans for e-sports, will you be supporting community competitions like EVO, or will you be hosting a Riot Games tournament as well?
Sean: I think the fighting game community is special. When we heard the news that Riot Games was producing a fighting game, the response was, "What about our community that we've built up over the years? However, we respect the fighting game community and want to support the tournament organizers. "First Impact " is our first step in that direction. We will be supporting 22 community tournaments in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
- What has been the response to the closed beta test?
Sean: We look closely at the comments on social networking sites, but we don't know if people are really playing. So we do frequent surveys and talk to players at events to see what we can do to improve our future plans. We also record all kinds of play data from all over the world, so we check in detail to see where there is room for improvement.
- Finally, what did you think of the Tokyo Game Show and what would you like to say to the players?
Sean: I have loved games since I was a little kid. It was my first time to attend the Tokyo Game Show, and when I first arrived at the hall, I was surprised at how big the venue was. I was also honored and grateful that we, 2XKO, were able to have a booth here. "2XKO" is free to play and anyone can play. Please invite your friends and give it a try!