Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
Riot Games, the studio behind League of Legends and Valorant, has spent the last several months ramping up promotion for its upcoming 2D fighter, 2XKO. However, it looks like the tag fighter wasn’t the only fighting game in the works at the studio. According to a new report, Riot Games was working on a platform fighter similar to Super Smash Bros., but canceled it back in May.
Word of a canceled platform fighter at Riot Games comes from ReaderGrev, a newsletter written by Mikhail Klimentov. The game, called Pool Party, would have been set in the League of Legends universe. Like other platform fighters, gameplay would focus on players accumulating damage knocking each other off stage instead of depleting a health bar.
“We always have a number of projects in various phases of R&D, and spinning projects up and down happens multiple times a year,” said Joe Hixson, senior communications manager, in a statement to Klimentov. The report also claims that the unexpected delisting of the MultiVersus beta last year led leadership at Riot Games to reconsider the audience’s desire for another Smash-like.
We’ll never get to play Pool Party, but it’s interesting to know that Riot Games was at one point looking to contend in the platform fighter space. Right now, the FGC is fully focused on 2XKO, which is set for a proper launch in 2025. Earlier this week, Braum was revealed as its newest fighter.