Riot Games has unveiled First Impact, a new sponsorship programme that will support 22 community-organised tournaments for its upcoming fighting game 2XKO through the remainder of 2025.
The initiative spans online and in-person competitions across the Americas, Europe and Asia, with the aim of strengthening the grassroots competitive scene during the game’s Early Access period. Each event will be run independently by a community tournament organiser, with Riot providing additional prize funding.
“Our goals are to support TOs [tournament organisers], who have always been the backbone of the FGC, and to grow opportunities for local players,” Riot stated in its announcement. The company said it intends to “drive awareness of what [organisers are] up to and point competitors to their events” while also ensuring competitors can “compete for meaningful prizes.”
A key element of the programme is the Duo Bounty, which awards an extra $2,500 to the pair finishing first in any First Impact tournament. Winning duos will also receive the exclusive Local Legend title for their 2XKO accounts.
The calendar includes events such as Evo France: 2 NICE KO by The MixUp (Nice, France, 10–12 October), DreamHack Atlanta (Atlanta, United States, 31 October–2 November), Battle Coliseum (São Paulo, Brazil, 14–16 November), and the 2XKO Japan Knockout (Tokyo, Japan, 7 December). Online competitions will run across multiple regions, including Latin America, EMEA, North America, and Asia-Pacific.
Riot confirmed that First Impact is an initial step in building its competitive structure for 2XKO. Feedback from organisers involved in the programme will be used to shape its 2026 plans.
The company has said it is not adding further events to the initiative at this stage but continues to encourage new tournament organisers to refer to its Community Competition Guidelines when planning grassroots competitions.
