This article contains MAJOR spoilers for Arcane.
2XKO is officially launching sometime this year with 10 playable champions from League of Legends, each with their own unique move sets. Riot Games has been expanding the League of Legends IP and going beyond the MOBA genre. 2XKO is the developer’s way of entering the fighting game scene.
2XKO‘s champions are inspired by their original League of Legends designs, while the likes of Jinx and Ekko also look similar to their characters in Arcane. The hit animated show changed a number of storylines in League of Legends‘ lore and also redesigned several characters, which were later showcased in the game. With 2XKO closely connected to League of Legends, it could also mean that Arcane might influence the design of future characters.
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2XKO Could Feature New Character Designs From Arcane
League of Legends has a vast universe that’s divided by lore-rich regions, but Riot Games has retconned them a number of times over the last decade. It even separated Arcane‘s story from League of Legends‘ universe at one point, which was later retracted to streamline everything. Plus, this led to League of Legends not only releasing Arcane-inspired skins but also redesigning champions like Viktor and LeBlanc based on their appearances in the show.
In 2XKO, the current roster features many familiar faces, such as Ahri, Yasuo, Braum, and more. Meanwhile, Riot Games also highlighted in a reveal trailer that Jinx and Ekko were made with their original design and their new looks from Arcane in mind. This confirms that the fighting game could add League of Legends champions with updated designs, like Viktor and Warwick, in the future.
Playable 2XKO Characters So Far
- Ahri
- Braum
- Darius
- Ekko
- Illaoi
- Jinx
- Yasuo
Viktor is one of the antagonists of Arcane Season 2, who embraced his “Glorious Evolution” to become a powerful messiah to his devout followers. Viktor’s transformation in the show later became his new default League of Legends skin. Meanwhile, Warwick, who is a massive wolf-like creature in the game, is revealed to be Vander resurrected in Arcane. Warwick’s new design in the show caused quite a stir because he had a human-looking face, and not the wolf face that longtime fans know and love. While League of Legends didn’t redesign Warwick’s default skin, Teamfight Tactics did release an Unbound Warwick Tactician for the “Into the Arcane” set.
Although 2XKO hasn’t confirmed whether Viktor and Warwick are going to be part of the roster, the idea of them shaking things up in fights is undoubtedly exciting. Viktor could be a mage character with long-ranged attacks like Ahri, while Warwick could be a viable brawler. Likewise, 2XKO could also bring in other Arcane characters, like LeBlanc, who also received an updated League of Legends model, Ambessa Medarda, and Mel Medarda.
Arcane Skins Could Be 2XKO’s Potential Money-Maker
Just like other fighting games, 2XKO‘s characters also have alternate skins. The great thing about this is that it features already-existing League of Legends skins, such as the Pool Party Set. That being said, this would be the perfect opportunity to bring some Arcane skins to 2XKO, like Arcane Fractured Jinx and Arcane Brawler Vi (if she becomes an official 2XKO unit).
Of course, the catch is that 2XKO players will most likely have to purchase the skins. It’s still unknown how much an individual skin or a bundle might cost, but many people are hoping that they don’t have to pay a premium for them. League of Legends has faced controversies because of its expensive skins and the gacha system for rare skins, so fans have been wary of any transactions lately. On the one hand, 2XKO could be sitting on a goldmine with Arcane-inspired skins and other cosmetics to make matches more exciting to look at.
