It’s been confirmed that 2XKO will introduce an offline mode where all playable champions will be unlocked, much to the delight of those organizing grassroots tournaments. This addition aims to support event organizers who are less than enthusiastic about the tedious task of unlocking champions across multiple accounts.
This announcement came during a 2XKO community tour in France earlier this month. It was during a lively group Q&A session that 2XKO’s executive producer, Tom Cannon, deliberated on how much he was willing to unveil, before deciding, “Yeah, why not,” and disclosed details about the new mode.
Organizing a tournament comes with its challenges, particularly when setting up numerous game environments. Cannon acknowledged this, saying, “We don’t want it to be a hassle. We want you to be able to operate a tournament offline without navigating through countless hoops just to unlock champions.”
“So, here’s our plan,” he continued. “You can play this game offline— I hope that’s not giving too much away (laughs). As a tournament organizer, you’ll have all the champions unlocked right from the get-go. Granted, you won’t have access to all the skins and additional content, but at least you can run a tournament offline. That’s our main offering.”
He emphasized their commitment to nurturing grassroots tournaments and expressed a keen interest in receiving feedback on this new feature and what other enhancements might be beneficial.
For those involved in tournament hosting, especially those passionate about competitive gaming, this is a significant development. An always-online fighting game would present considerable obstacles in this environment. Organizers would need to ensure a reliable internet connection and potentially bear high costs for extended usage during tournaments. Plus, eliminating the need to unlock new characters on multiple 2XKO accounts reduces a significant burden, streamlining the setup for competitive play.
However, questions remain about how this offline mode will align with Vanguard Anti-Cheat, the stringent always-online security system from Riot Games. Running with kernel-level access, Vanguard activates as soon as your computer starts up, making it impossible to disable while using Riot Games titles like League of Legends or Valorant. Hence, an offline mode could conceptually conflict with Vanguard’s function, assuming it’s accessed through the Riot Games launcher like current 2XKO Alpha Lab tests.
We’ve reached out to Riot Games for further clarification on this matter but have yet to hear back.
Even so, for the dedicated community ready to physically attend events and challenge other players, this development is promising. From a personal standpoint, don’t expect this mode to be readily available to every player. As a free-to-play game, 2XKO naturally needs to sustain its revenue. Consequently, anticipate that this offline mode will be primarily accessible to verified tournament organizers.
For now, we await further updates on this offline mode and what else is in store. What are your thoughts on this new feature? Share your views below!
