Riot Games has announced that League of Legends Classic, a mode designed to recapture the nostalgia of early League of Legends, will be shut down in January 2027, just six months after its launch. The developer stated that while many players enjoyed revisiting the older version of the game, the majority have since returned to other aspects of League of Legends.
"At this point though, most have gone back to other parts of League," a Riot spokesperson explained in a development update. The current season will be the last for the mode, with plans to potentially bring it back in the future as an event mode with adjustments and additions. Riot has committed to sharing its learnings from Classic's run, including what aspects were successful, where it could have leaned further into its retro theme, and where adherence to the past may have hindered the experience.
Players who purchased content specifically for League of Legends Classic that will become obsolete upon its closure will be eligible for refunds. Riot also confirmed that new champions are still planned for release within the mode, with Mordekaiser, Yorick, Hecarim, and Lucian slated for the upcoming 26.21 update, followed by Vilibear, Urgot, and Udyr in subsequent releases.
League of Legends Classic aimed to evoke the game's early days by removing most champions and kits introduced after 2013, reverting to an older version of Summoner's Rift, and promising a faster rollout of "new" old champions. However, the nostalgic appeal may not have been enough to sustain the mode long-term.
Speculation about the mode's potential challenges arose earlier, with former League of Legends competitor Alex Chu (Xpecial) suggesting that "classic" is subjective and that many players' entry points into the game were much later than its earliest iterations. He posited that for newer players, Classic might feel like simply an outdated game rather than a beloved nostalgic experience. Chu also theorized that Classic's appeal was always going to be a temporary "nostalgia bomb" and that its future could have involved player-driven choices that would not be feasible in the main League of Legends game due to its broader audience. The competitive and fast-paced nature of League of Legends may also contrast with the more enduring appeal of older, slower-paced titles like World of Warcraft Classic or RuneScape, which players often treat as a less demanding home away from home.