Riot Games reveal 2XKO esports and console plans for 2026

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 05/12/2025

Riot Games has announced its 2026 esports plans for the League of Legends-based fighting game, 2XKO.

2XKO has already seen over 1,500 community tournaments this year, including 22 First-Impact events sponsored by Riot.

This included a spectacular 2XKO showdown between Sonicfox and Leffen at DreamHack Atlanta.

Now, Riot is expanding the competitive scene for 2XKO next year and is finally bringing the fighter to Xbox and PlayStation.

2XKO esports in 2026

While League of Legends and Valorant esports consist solely of Riot-organised tournaments and franchised leagues, 2XKO will be different.

Riot Games has announced it instead plans to support existing fighting game tournaments and help create sustainable growth for the fighting game community (FGC).

Riot has announced it plans to support events by helping to fund them, increasing prize pools, and promoting the events on Riot’s official channels.

As part of this, Riot is partnering directly with FGC tournament organisers for 20 Riot-sanctioned tournaments all over the globe next year.

These 20 events will be called the 2026 Competitive Series, with five Majors and 15 Challenger events in total.

2XKO will introduce five new champions in 2026, one for each season.

Each season will also include one Major and three Challenger Events from the aforementioned Competitive Series.

Challengers will essentially be regional tournaments open to all competitors, while the Majors will be large-scale events.

The first Major of 2026 will be at Frosty Faustings event in Illinois, USA, between January 29th and February 1st.

The Frosty Faustings event will see the return of the Duo Bounty bonus prize but this time, instead of being for a duo who won the entire event, it will go to the highest-placing duo.

The first three Challenger events for 2XKO will be Genesis X3 in California, USA (February 13th-15th), Texas Showdown in Texas, USA (March 27th-29th) and Viennality

Our first Major kicks off with Frosty Faustings from January 29 to February 1, followed by our first three Challenger events: Genesis X3 (February 13-15), Texas Showdown (March 27-29), and Viennality in Vienna, Austria (March 28-29).

Riot Games announces Frame Perfect esports skins

Riot has also announced a brand new skin for 2XKO, which will directly support the game’s esports scene.

The Frame Perfect line of skins for 2XKO will see a portion of its proceeds go towards supporting tournament organisers.

The competitive-themed skin line will help fund prize pools and cover production costs for future 2XKO events.

The Frame Perfect skins will be purchasable in the 2XKO store in Season 1 and around the time of each Major.

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

In my seven years of esports writing, I've introduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I'm most proud of the latter.

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