2XKO’s Plans for Competitive Play in 2026

How we’re approaching competitive play in 2026 and beyond.
Announcements

With the year coming to a close, we wanted to give you an update on 2XKO’s plans for competitive play in 2026.

Before we get into it: 2XKO will be coming to console in January of 2026. That includes Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. We know how long y’all have been waiting to jump in on console, and can’t wait for you to get your hands on the game soon. You can add 2XKO to your Xbox or PlayStation wishlist right now.

A Look Back at 2025

Since Early Access kicked off in October, we’ve seen over 1500 community tournaments pop up all over the world, including 22 First Impact-sponsored events that thousands of players have participated in so far.

We’ve loved seeing all the friendships, rivalries, and storylines emerge throughout the course of these tournaments. In case you missed it, here are just some of our faves:

Competitive Play in 2026

There’s already been a lot of curiosity and speculation around how Riot might support competitive play for 2XKO, especially compared to games like League and VALORANT that have competitive leagues run by Riot.

But since community TOs have already been running successful fighting game events for years, 2XKO’s plans for competitive play are a little different. Instead of spinning up our own league, our approach is to offer direct support to existing fighting game events. That means providing things like funding, promotion on official Riot channels, and prize pool buffs, with the ultimate goal of creating sustainable, long-term growth for the FGC.

2026 Competitive Series

In 2026, we’re partnering directly with community organizers on 20 Riot-sanctioned tournaments all over the world. We’re calling this our 2026 Competitive Series, which includes 5 Major and 15 Challenger events in total (one Major and three Challenger events tied to each of 2XKO’s five in-game seasons). You can think of Challengers as regional open tournaments meant to give communities more opportunities to compete, and Majors as the five biggest competitive moments for the year.

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 (March 28-29).

For Frosty Faustings, we’re bringing back the Duo Bounty. But this time, instead of only awarding the prize bonus if a duo wins the whole tournament, it’ll go to the highest-placing duo no matter where they end their bracket run.

Frame Perfect

In Season 1 we’re also launching Frame Perfect: a competitive-themed skin set where a portion of proceeds go toward supporting TOs across the world. This includes helping fund prize pools and covering tournament production costs for future 2XKO events. It’ll be available for purchase in the 2XKO store during all of Season 1, and we’re planning to bring it back around each Major.

The Bigger Picture

All that said, these Major and Challenger events are just one piece of the puzzle. We believe the FGC thrives when supported at all levels of play, and we’re already looking for ways to expand support to more events—not just those that make up the 2026 Competitive Series. Locals will be a big priority for us, and we’ll be working closely with TOs to help them strengthen the communities that keep the FGC thriving.

We also know that the kind of support players and TOs need most can vary a lot by region, so we’ll be adapting our approach on a case-by-case basis to make sure we’re getting it right.

Lots of us here on the 2XKO team have been competing at fighting game tournaments for years, and our goal is to make that experience better for everyone. What we’ve laid out in this article is just the first step of many, and we’ll need your help to let us know what’s working and what we can improve. You can always tag us @Play2XKO on socials, but we’ll be sourcing feedback in person and through event surveys at a lot of these tournaments, too.

We’re super stoked for Season 1, and we’ll have more info about the rest of the year’s competitive roadmap soon.

We’ll see y’all at Frosty’s, and in the meantime: support your locals!