2XKO is going offline for a few days to prep for its early access launch before returning with an utterly demonic Teemo

2XKO's closed beta seems to be going pretty well, with the tag fighter throwing open the doors to the masses on October 7. Despite executive producer Tom Cannon saying in July that "our goal is to keep the game up, online, and available" from the closed beta's launch, it seems that Riot needs just a few days to get everything straightened out.

A post on the 2XKO X account reads: "We need a little more time to get early access up and running, so we'll be shutting down closed beta a few days early on Oct 3 @ 9pm PT." Servers will be back up and running in time for the early access launch on October 7 at 8am PT/11am ET/4pm BST.

Riot says that offline mode will still work, so players should still be able to hit the lab, play local multiplayer, and face off against CPUs. Three-and-a-half days to do some tinkering behind the scenes is nothing in the grand scheme of things, especially when I think about other fighting games who took their betas offline and straight-up vanished for a year—looking at you, Multiversus.

The downtime news was released alongside a trailer for 2XKO's tenth champion, verifiable League mascot Teemo. And as someone who doesn't play the MOBA, I finally understand all of the Teemo hate.

Riot has really leaned into the gremlin vibes here, with Teemo being an all-out terror as both a zoner and a trap character, using his signature blow darts and mushrooms to create space while also laying down grass patches that he can quickly teleport to for some solid mixups.

The trailer is steeped in self-awareness in the best possible way. Halfway through sees a fake Twitch-like chat appear with comments like "2XKO SAVED," "this game is cooked" and various iterations of cringe/based. Riot knows of Teemo's crimes, and is doing everything it can to lean into that.

It even ends with a reference to Evo Moment 37—one of the most iconic FGC moments that continues to haunt Justin Wong over 20 years later—which, if I wasn't already sold on the sheer tomfoolery Teemo had been displaying in the two minutes prior to this, I certainly am now.