Alpha Lab is 2XKO’s first at-home playtest. We’re inviting players in participating regions to give feedback that will help improve the game for launch in 2025.

Like we said in our Alpha Lab Dev Q&A, this is the first time players will experience the online gameplay loop for 2XKO, and it’s a super early build. Many screens and UI elements are still in progress, so don’t expect things to be polished—in fact, you’ll probably encounter a decent amount of jank. Some features might not work correctly, and you could experience crashes or other errors. 

Two super important things to keep in mind (and tell your friends):

1. Make sure to log in to Alpha Lab with the correct Riot Account. Double-check your account’s username in your access email. Creating a new account or signing into the wrong Riot Account will lock you out of Alpha Lab.

2. Do not stream the process of linking your Riot Account and console account. Anyone can scan the QR code used for linking, including your viewers. 

We’re still making the game, but we’re here so you can tell us what you think so far. Testing at this stage will give us time to incorporate feedback before launch. Basically, this is your chance to actually shape 2XKO with your notes. You’ll receive a feedback survey via email after Alpha Lab ends on August 19. Fill it out to make sure we hear you.

With that said, here’s what you’ll find when you launch the game:

Casual Matches

Select FIGHT!, then choose Casual mode to enter a public lobby, where you’ll find matches with other players. During Alpha Lab, you’ll be able to partner up with a friend before entering the lobby, find a duo while you’re there, or just jump in solo. 

Queue for a game by pressing the key displayed next to the Find a Match popup. When a match has been found, go to the highlighted cabinet and accept the match to start playing.

Outside of the queue system, there are a few other ways to get into a game. You can directly challenge any other player in the room, or sit down at an empty cabinet to warm up in training mode while waiting for someone to queue up. 

We think playing with friends and making new ones is an amazing part of the fighting game experience, so our lobbies are built to bring that vibe to an online space. We really care about getting this right, so let us know what's working and what isn't.

Private Matches

Select Private mode to create your own personal room, complete with a training cabinet for you and a duo. You can invite up to 16 players from your friend list to this space. 

Personalization

Alpha Lab players will get a first look at skins, stickers, chromas, and customizable avatars.

Avatars

Your avatar is how you’ll show up in 2XKO’s lobbies. You’ll be able to unlock new customization options with battle pass progress. Later versions will feature more ways to switch up your appearance.

Chromas

Chromas are alternate colors. They can help differentiate when both teams pick the same champion, and they’re also a great way to show off some personality.

Unlock base champion chromas by navigating to the Champions section of the main menu, selecting a champion, then highlighting the Skins option. For Alpha Lab, chromas will be unlockable for 100 credits, but in later versions the currency and cost might change.

Emotes and Stickers

There are a few ways to express yourself while in a lobby. Use emotes to perform an action with your avatar, such as cheering or giving a thumbs up. Use stickers to show off an icon above your avatar.

Access the emote wheel while in lobby using the ( - ) key on PC, the RT button on Xbox Series X|S, or the R2 button on PlayStation 5. The emote wheel won’t be customizable during this playtest, but acquiring a new sticker from the battle pass will automatically equip it. 

Skins

Skins change the way your champion looks. Skins for Yasuo and Ahri will be available to unlock for free in the battle pass during Alpha Lab. We want you to get an idea of what playing with different skins is like in this test. 

Once skins are unlocked, they can be equipped in the champion select screen before any match. Additional chromas for skins can also be earned from the battle pass in Alpha Lab.

Bladesong Yasuo

Dynasty Ahri

How to Play

Check out our How to Play article for a basic rundown of champs, mechanics, and default button layouts.

Tutorial Mode

For an in-game tutorial, select FIGHT!, then choose Tutorial mode from the menu at the top of the screen. Follow the guides on the left to learn your controls.

Training Mode

Use training mode to get a feel for the game or try out new champs. 

Training Bots

In training mode, your default opponents won’t move, block, or attack. To fight a bot, visit the settings menu. 

Open Settings (your input will be displayed at the bottom of the screen), select Bot Settings, then switch the Controller Setting option from Training Bot to CPU. From there, you can change all kinds of things about the bot’s behavior, like difficulty level and playstyle.

Note: With “Dynamic” CPU difficulties, the bot will adjust its behavior as you play. Turning off infinite HP will produce better quality matches.

Co-op Training Mode

You can access co-op training mode using the leftmost cabinet in any private lobby. Use this with a duo to practice against bots. Another duo can join at the second cabinet, or you can also train solo against a duo. Hop on with any team variation and lab things out with your friends.  

Battle Pass

An early version of the battle pass will be automatically unlocked for free for all Alpha Lab participants. It’ll feature 20 levels of rewards that can be earned by playing games and completing missions. We're still tweaking what this looks like, so tell us how it feels to progress through the pass. 

Missions

Complete missions to unlock rewards like credits. We’re adjusting a lot about how missions work, like how fast they can be finished, how often they’re refreshed, and what rewards they’ll grant. Let us know what you think when submitting feedback.

Credits

Credits are the main currency you earn by playing 2XKO. During Alpha Lab, credits can be used to unlock chromas, but in future playtests they’ll also be used to unlock new champions. 

All account progress (including chromas, skins, and other unlocked rewards) will be reset between playtests, so feel free to spend all your credits and have fun. 

Champions

Ahri, Braum, Darius, Ekko, Illaoi, and Yasuo will be available to play during Alpha Lab. All six will be unlocked for every player from the first day of the Alpha Lab playtest, but in future playtests some champions will need to be unlocked through missions or credits. 

Stages

Four stages will be available during Alpha Lab: 

Spirit Hills

Bridge of Progress

The Brazen Hydra

Scuttler’s Strand

2XKO Netcode

We’ve implemented rollback netcode to minimize latency. We’re still testing these systems and will be monitoring any outliers throughout Alpha Lab. We'll release a deeper dive into 2XKO’s netcode sometime in the future to talk through the tech that powers our matches.

Friend List

Form duos with players from your friend list. Your friend list is accessible via the (Tab) key on PC and the Menu button on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. 

Add friends by searching for their full Riot ID, including the tagline. For example: AhriMain#NA1

Cross-Platform Play

Cross-platform play is available between PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 players located in the same region.

Cross-Region Play

We plan to support cross-region private matches in the future, but cross-region play will not be available during Alpha Lab. 

Offline and Local Play

Offline and local play will be available in the future, but not during Alpha Lab. 

Anti-Cheat

2XKO will be using Riot’s proprietary anti-cheat tool, Vanguard. Our friends in the anti-cheat department released an in-depth blog post about the value of anti-cheat. You can also check out this post if you’re interested in top level information. 

Feedback

All players in the test will receive a feedback survey after Alpha Lab ends. Make sure to fill it out, because we’ll use your feedback to continue developing 2XKO. Anything you liked or disliked about your experience is super valuable to us.

Again, 2XKO is a work in progress, so don’t hold back! Tell us what you would change. We’ll read every single Alpha Lab feedback survey, so this is your chance to get your thoughts on our radar.

If you’d like to share clips, bugs, or comments on social media during Alpha Lab, we’re keeping an eye on the tag #2XKO_AlphaLab. Use it on your posts to join the conversation, even if you don’t have Alpha Lab access.

Also, this won’t be the last chance to playtest. If you register on the Alpha Lab website, you’ll be notified when more sign-ups open later this year.

Known Issues

We have a couple of fixes that didn’t quite make it into this version! If you encounter any of these issues, know that they’re already on our radar.

• Text chat is only available on PC.

• Equipping an avatar item requires a double-click in some cases.

• On PlayStation 5, the training mode frame advantage feature does not function correctly.

• Training mode CPU reversal options sometimes do not function while the CPU is airborne.

• Training mode CPU will perform a back air recovery even when neutral is selected.

• On PC, running the game while the Steam client is open in the background may cause some controller issues.

• On PC, plugging in a gamepad for the first time defaults to incorrect bindings. Default gamepad settings can be restored by going to Settings → Controller Mappings → Pad B.

• Avatar outfits may not display properly in heavily populated lobbies.

• Connecting to the co-op training mode cabinet with a cross-platform partner may cause training mode to crash.

• While warming up in the casual lobby, the Back button may lose functionality, causing players to restart to exit warm up. 

• Pressing CTRL+M on the PC version will mute all in-game music.

• Choosing “Quit Game” in private lobbies may result in a crash. 

• Immediately exiting training mode after being defeated by a bot may result in a crash. 

• Choosing “warm up” when sitting at a cabinet in the casual lobby is causing crashes and will be disabled. 

• Players standing on a spot other than the left-most positions will cause the co-op training mode cabinet to not function properly.