Riot Games, the renowned developer behind the globally popular League of Legends, continues to expand its reach beyond the MOBA genre. Despite not yet dethroning DOTA 2 in the MOBA market, League of Legends has spurred numerous spin-offs in various genres, including fighting games.
Among these is 2XKO (formerly known as Project L), which remains under active development. However, recent reports indicate that Riot has decided to cancel another new fighting game.
Riot Games Cancels Fighting Game Inspired by Super Smash Bros.
According to journalist Mikhail Klimentov, Riot Games recently canceled a new fighting game, codenamed Pool Party, at the end of May. Details on the stage of development before its cancellation remain unclear. However, Klimentov noted that approximately 70 to 80 staff members were involved in the project.
During its development, Pool Party underwent significant concept changes, integrating “casual player-friendly mechanics” and party elements that reportedly frustrated many staff members.
Although Pool Party shared the same genre as 2XKO, it was a distinct game. While 2XKO features a 2v2 tag team format, Pool Party was envisioned as a Super Smash Bros.-style fighting game set in the League of Legends universe.
MultiVersus Contributed to Pool Party’s Cancellation
About half of the staff involved in Pool Party’s development have since been reassigned to other Riot projects. Notably, Warner Bros.’ fighting game MultiVersus is said to have influenced the decision to cancel Pool Party. Klimentov reported that Riot’s development perspective shifted following MultiVersus’ closure in 2023, viewing it as a failure that suggested their project might not succeed as anticipated.
