Riot Will Close League Of Legends Classic In January 2027
A nostalgia mode built on the 2013 Season 3 state of the game could not hold its population against the live client, so Riot is folding it back into event-mode status rather than running it as a standing queue.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Riot Games announced on October 15 that League of Legends Classic will end once at the close of Season 3, making the mode unplayable in January 2027. The company cited a decline in users, with most players returning to the current League of Legends. Riot says it aims to bring the mode back later as a limited-time event with adjustments.
The shutdown arrives with updates still running. Patch 26.21 adds Mordekaiser, Yorick, Hecarim, and Lucian, and new champions are set to arrive through 26.23. On the Japanese server, online matchmaking becomes unavailable with 26.21, after which play is limited to custom games. Refunds will be issued for Classic-exclusive content such as Classic Portraits, with details on the support page.
Riot attributed the closure to population decline: matchmaking wait times grew longer in some regions and MMR disparities widened. The mode launched on July 30, free to play, based on Season 3 in 2013 but with modernized systems. League of Legends itself is free to play on PC.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.