Red Bull Knockout 2XKO tournament to take place in Paris with national duos format

This Friday, April 17, Riot Games and Red Bull announced the Red Bull Knockout on 2XKO, a tournament set to take place in Paris on May 16. Featuring a different format from the official circuit, the competition will be played exclusively in teams and by nations. Eight duos will compete in the final event, each representing a different region such as France, the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden. The final duo, named Ionia, will be determined through an open qualifier held beforehand.

Organized around 2XKO, the latest release from the North American publisher, the event will take place over a single day. The morning will feature a Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), open to 64 teams, with the winner securing the final spot in the main event. The latter will begin at 15:00 CET and will include the seven invited teams along with the LCQ duo in a double elimination format, with matches played in a first-to-2.

The Red Bull Knockout follows Red Bull’s continued involvement in the fighting game scene and is presented in official communications as the successor to Red Bull Kumite. It also marks the first international 2XKO competition played exclusively in a 2v2 format, differing from traditional versus fighting standards. As for participants, only two duos have been confirmed so far, with Marwan "Wawa" Berthe and Yonis "Yasha" Ahamada representing France, alongside Dominique "SonicFox" McLean and Lenwood "INZEM" Arnold.

With a total prize pool of €20,000, the tournament will award €6,500 to the first-place duo, down to €1,000 for teams finishing at the bottom of the final standings. It also appears that only part of the competition will be broadcast, in both English and French, on Twitch and YouTube.