Riot Games has finally made it official that the long-awaited 2v2 fighting game, 2XKO, will be available on PlayStation 5 as a free-to-play game in January 2026, which is a long wait for the console players to be able to experience the unique tag-team brawls. The news of the announcement was made through a new PlayStation trailer in which the game was shown as also coming for Xbox Series X|S, thus, it is a very big expansion of the movement of the former Project L title and a drastic scenario change in the fighting games community (FGC).
This is the main news. But what is the feeling like? The online reaction is … a vibe.
Pantheon dropped the trailer, and the internet, as always, immediately divided the people into groups. There is the hype team, the doubters, and the people just mocking the multipletaps. It’s a beautiful mess. The basic information is extremely easy: January 2026. Free to play. 2v2 fighter. Riot Games. That last one has a lot of power since the company’s history with live-service games, shall we say, is pretty extensive. However, a fighting game? That’s for them outside that tiny little game called League of Legends.
The trailer is a pleasure to the eyes; it features nothing but show-stopping combos and even the superheroes from the League universe are attacking in pairs. Yet, the most important place for the story to be told is in the comments, dude. Always.
Excitement is the first to come. A user named Matthew “Six” Patrick, who claims to have been there since the first alpha phase on PC, is almost like a priest of the game. “I am very, very excited for console players to try this,” he says, and he is already ahead of the characters by 5 out of 11 learnt. “The combinations u can do is astounding, fun and allows u to try some crazy stuff.” That is a very nice recommendation coming from someone who has really experienced it. Another user Buren04 just exclaimed “Playing this game with a friend as your duo is so damn fun,” which is exactly the kind of atmosphere desired for a 2v2 game. HoodSquirrel also joined in saying, “The game is very fun on PC,” and it’s “def hype.”
Nevertheless, the opposite also exists. Just those two words “free to play” caused many to have their hearts broken and their fears to appear. Username statesminds simply said, “F2p worries me lol.” However, it is impossible not to understand their concern. Snake oil, anyone? We have all been the victims of malevolent monetization in “free” games. Another user, _Inominavel_, shared a heavy thought with us: “For free is still expensive.” Profound. Very profound.
The fears are justified. Will the characters be unlocked by grinding or by purchasing? Will the game be fair for non-spenders? Some comments tried to soothe the worries. Chris from Trailpad responded to a worry, “All characters have no payment wall. Just ignore the shop if you can live without cosmetics.” And that Six guy again was the one who said, “It’s actually surprisingly good for a free to play game. I like it a lot more than I thought I would.” So, who knows?
The official 2XKO account even joined the party with a funny, somewhat retro joke. Responding to the PlayStation tweet, they wrote, “brb grabbing the multitap,” which is a very niche reference to old-enough console adapters for more controllers. That sparked a reaction. RellFGC replied, “Showing your age,” and another user called draggles, labeled it “over 30 honeypot tweet.” It is a positive sign when the developers have such a good humor about their shortcomings.
Some other answers were simply, um, random bewilderments. One person wondered if the player “combofiend” was the one who made the announcement. Another one was concerned that prices in Latin America would be higher than the prices presented in the other regions. One person just wanted to know when Sackboy would be back. A very typical chaotic Twitter situation.
However, the main thing is that the FGC crowd is going to become massive, re-energized. User Argyle_N1nja phrased it pretty well: “With this and Tōkon FGC gonna be EATING in 2026.” A free-to-play, high-profile 2v2 fighter from a studio like Riot’s resources is a big deal. It will probably draw in many players who otherwise would have refused to buy a fighting game at $70. It is a gateway drug, so to speak.
