Just days before 2XKO‘s launch, Riot released a blog post that outlined major changes to the FGC’s content plans for 2026.
While the blog post largely focused on a new weekly in-game event called the Weekend Warmup, the FGC narrowed in on a briefly mentioned change to the 2026 season roadmap.
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According to Riot Games, the previously announced five seasons of content scheduled for 2026 will now be reduced to three. Five champions will still be released, but this means fewer Battle Passes and Ranked Resets.
“We previously said that 2XKO was going to have five seasons in 2026, but as we learned more about how y’all play through Early Access, it makes more sense to do fewer resets through the year for both Ranked and the Battle Pass,” wrote 2XKO’s Editor-in-Chief Ben Forbes.
“So we’re moving to three seasons in 2026, now mostly disconnected from champion releases and the competitive calendar. This won’t change too much overall aside from Ranked resets and new Battle Pass timings.”
The FGC has responded with mixed opinions on 2XKO’s reduced seasons. Three is still a pretty good amount for a fighting game, but others wonder if the momentum will continue into 2027 if Riot is already reducing seasons.
Gamers should still expect Caitlyn to come out as planned. The second champion, however, will also be released in Season 1 rather than Season 2. It’s still uncertain when exactly each season will start and end, and when each champion will be released.
For now, Riot has given us the release date for 2XKO’s launch on PC and console, with Season 1 launching at the same time.
What is Weekend Warmup in 2XKO?
Riot is hoping to make Thursdays ‘just a little more exciting’ with the Weekend Warmup. Weekly missions and the in-game store will be reset weekly on Thursday, making the weekend more exciting for anyone who plans to grind the game.
“Over time, we plan to keep making Thursdays just better overall,” Riot added. “Expect this to be a long-term thing, so more to come in the future.”
It’s unclear exactly how Riot plans to make Thursdays even more hype, but we should expect updates pretty soon. Riot stated that it will be publishing a weekly blog post with the latest news and updates.
Source: https://esportsinsider.com/2026/01/2xko-reduced-seasons-2026
