Will 2XKO be free? How much will it cost to play Riot’s fighting game

If you can’t get enough of Riot Games’ massive roster of characters across LoL and Valorant, then good news! You’ll soon be able to square off against them in 2XKO, the company’s upcoming fighting game. For many though, the question will be whether it’s free-to-play and whether you’ll need to splash some cash to enjoy it.

We’re not getting our hands on the full game until 2XKO releases in 2025, but we did get a chance to try the fighting game for the first time in August 2024 as part of the Alpha Lab playtest. If you were one of the lucky few who completed the survey and got access and want to know if your bank account will take a hit, then we’ve got everything you need.

Will 2XKO be free?

Yes, 2XKO will be free to play, as confirmed by Riot Games themselves. That means that you won’t need to pay a penny to download the game and get into the action when it launches on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5.

This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, considering that all of the company’s games cost nothing to enjoy, like League of Legends, Valorant, and Teamfight Tactics.

How will 2XKO make money?

With Riot choosing not to charge an up-front cost to play 2XKO, the publisher will rely on microtransactions to make money. Based on their other games, expect to see special skins available for purchase in an in-game store that lets you change the look of your characters, along with special emotes and emblems to help you stand out from the crowd.

Should they follow the same format they’ve used in Valorant, expect to see new episodes drop roughly every six months, with new cosmetic bundles for you to enjoy.

These items won’t affect gameplay or give you an advantage over your opponents but will let you show off your own unique style and personality while you beat your enemies to a pulp.

Do F2P fighting games do better than paid ones?

Yes, Riot has decided to make 2XKO as accessible as possible by making it free to play, but does that mean it will have a better chance at long-term success compared to fighting games you have to pay for? Well, with 2XKO not officially released yet, we can’t use its player count to compare, but there are some free alternatives we can look at.

In truth, the answer is no, they don’t do better, but they can still do really well. Street Fighter 6 still dominates the Steam Charts as the platform’s top fighting game despite costing $59.99, but free-to-play Brawlhalla isn’t far behind and boasts a really strong average player count month on month. Alternatively, MultiVersus has struggled in recent months despite costing nothing, while Tekken 8 is stable but trailing behind SF6.

What matters most for longevity is the quality of the game, and its ability to keep bringing players back. That can be through the quality of gameplay, a strong ranked mode that encourages players to keep grinding, or by being easy enough for casual fighting fans to play with their friends.

How Riot will manage this remains to be seen, but considering the unbelievable success LoL and Valorant have been, we wouldn’t recommend betting against them dominating the fighting genre in the future too.