Riot Games Canceled Second Fighting Game in May

wccftech.com:

Riot Games has been dipping its toes into the world of fighting games after becoming well-known for its MOBA League of Legends and auto-battler Teamfight Tactics. Their latest game is on the horizon, with 2XKO, formerly Project L, currently in Alpha testing. However, they also had a second fighting game, code-named Pool Party, which was binned in May.

This fighting game was said to be in the style of Super Smash Bros, with melee fighting and platforming set in the League of Legends universe. Current and former Riot employees have spoken out about this game, saying that a team of 70-80 people was assigned to work on this project.

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While the project has since been scrapped, at least half of the team has received an offer to be reassigned within the studio to other jobs. Ten people did not receive an offer and were subsequently laid off or left the company voluntarily.

A statement has been made by Joe Hixson, the senior communications director at Riot Games. He told Mikhail Klimentov of readergrev.com, "We always have a number of projects in various phases of R&D, and spinning projects up and down happens multiple times a year."

While they haven't specifically said why the project was scrapped, it's possible that they felt that the scene was now becoming too saturated. While Super Smash Bros. remains on top as the ultimate melee platform fighter, Multiversus has now broken into the scene.

Earlier in the year, Riot Games had a mass layoff of over 500 employees, which was said to be due to budget cuts so that they could continue to have as many ongoing projects as they currently do.

Riot Games' newest project, 2XKO, a fighting game, is due for a 2025 release date. Registration forms for their Alpha labs are currently open for people who are interested in trialing the game for them.