2XKO The Climb is live now, and Riot Games has explained how the new PVE mode was built from an older Survival prototype while the team works toward a July patch for console crashes.
The June 18 Weekend Warmup frames The Climb as Riot's first major pass at a more replayable bot mode, built around branching routes, randomized augments, campfires and increasingly strange champion interactions.
Riot built The Climb from an old Survival prototype
In Riot's official Weekend Warmup post, Ben "Draggles" Forbes said The Climb came together in a few months after the team revisited a Survival mode prototype that had been sitting in the game's development backlog.
2XKO already had Bot Beatdown as a lightweight PVE option, but Riot said players had been asking for bot fights with more unlocks, progression or story. The Climb is the team's first attempt at bringing those ideas together, not a replacement for a standard Arcade mode.
Design director Brad "Bradido" Merritt described the mode as a space for expression, where builds can either push a favorite champion's existing strengths or turn that champion into something unfamiliar. That makes The Climb especially useful because it can serve two audiences at once, giving newer players a lower-pressure place to learn matchups while giving stronger players a harder bot ladder to solve.
Why augments became the center of the mode
The key design hook is that The Climb lets Riot bend 2XKO's normal rules. After wins, players can pick from randomized augments that stack through the run, creating builds that would be too disruptive for base PVP.
Riot said the challenge was balancing fighting-game skill with the chaotic fun of deckbuilder-style systems seen in Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra's Path of Champions and League of Legends' ARAM Mayhem.
Some ideas were harder than expected. Riot wanted a Vi augment that would let her mash S2 during Crater Maker for a much longer super, but Merritt said that would have required a major animation overhaul. By contrast, a more game-changing idea, assists emerging from Thresh's lantern, was easier to implement because the Thresh team had already experimented with that behavior during development.
How 2XKO The Climb works right now
For anyone jumping into 2XKO after the latest update, The Climb is a run-based PVE mode that can be played solo or in co-op as a duo. Players pick champions, choose a Fuse, fight CPU teams in single-round encounters and build power through the choices offered after victories.
| Mode element | Current details |
|---|---|
| Status | Live now |
| Platforms | PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S |
| Players | Solo or co-op duo |
| Core loop | Fight CPU duos, win single-round matches, choose augments and continue up a branching route |
| Run failure | Losing ends the run |
| Resources | Health, Break and Super meter carry over between matches |
| Recovery | Campfires can restore a struggling team before the next fight |
| Rewards | The Climb-specific missions can award base chromas, avatar items, stickers and Battle Pass XP |
| Future updates | Riot is exploring new node types, tougher encounters, stranger augments and more champion interaction flavor |
Patch 1.2.3 gave The Climb a bigger launch window
The Climb did not arrive by itself. The broader 2XKO patch 1.2.3 update also added Senna and Thresh, balance changes, new stages, events and a large cosmetics rollout.
That matters for The Climb because the mode gives new champions and adjusted systems a different kind of testing ground. Thresh's lantern experiments are already part of Riot's development story for the mode, while Senna and Thresh both enter a meta that is still settling ahead of Evo 2026.
The update also overlaps with a busy store and event calendar, including the Pool Party Megabundles and the Pool Party event window planned for later in June. That gives returning players several reasons to log in even if they are mainly interested in PVE.
Console crashes are still part of the update
Riot also used the Weekend Warmup to address console crashing issues. The studio said it has tracked down the cause, but described the problem as systemic and tied to the amount of content added recently.
Because of that, Riot is not treating the crashes as a quick one-fix issue. The team is working on a solution and is aiming to release a patch in July, though the post did not give a specific date.
The next competitive checkpoint is Evo 2026
The same update also pointed toward 2XKO's next competitive stretch. Riot listed the Sajam Slam finals for June 19, Supernoon's Pre-Evo Bootcamp for June 20-24 and Evo 2026 for June 26-28 as a 2XKO Major Event.
Riot's local spotlight featured Siouxper Battle Opera in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, a scene that has been running 2XKO brackets since the September 2025 Closed Beta. Top-placing 2XKO players at the local will also receive Chipotle Free Entrée cards.
Forbes also teased an Evo 2026 film for next week, making the official 2XKO YouTube channel one place to watch as the game's first Evo season ramps up.
Frequently asked questions about 2XKO The Climb
Is 2XKO The Climb live now?
Yes. Riot says The Climb PVE is live now on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
What is The Climb in 2XKO?
The Climb is a PVE run mode built around bot battles, branching routes, randomized augments and escalating difficulty.
Is The Climb an Arcade mode?
No. Riot says The Climb is not meant to replace a standard Arcade mode. It is designed as a rule-breaking sandbox for experimental builds.
Can The Climb be played with a friend?
Yes. The mode supports solo play and co-op duo play.
What rewards does The Climb give?
The Climb-specific missions can reward base chromas, avatar items and stickers. The mode also awards Battle Pass XP.
When is Riot fixing 2XKO console crashes?
Riot is aiming for a July patch. The studio said the crash cause has been found, but the issue is systemic and does not have a quick one-step fix.
What is Riot planning next for The Climb?
Riot says future work may include new node types, tougher enemy encounters, weirder augment combinations and more personality through champion interactions.
What to watch as Riot keeps climbing
The immediate takeaway is that The Climb is not just a side mode for bot matches. Riot is positioning it as a live PVE experiment where champion kits, assists and augments can go beyond normal competitive limits.
The next things to watch are the July console crash fix, Riot's first follow-up changes to The Climb and how the post-1.2.3 meta looks once Evo 2026 puts Senna, Thresh and the rest of the roster under tournament pressure.
