Riot Games to shut down League of Legends Classic in January 2027

Riot Games announced on October 14–15 that League of Legends Classic, a throwback mode launched on July 30 to commemorate the game's 15th anniversary, will be discontinued in January 2027 at the end of Season 3. The mode recreated early versions of League of Legends, including legacy champions, items like Deathfire Grasp, and older rune and mastery systems from around Season 3, while reverting to an earlier version of Summoner's Rift.

The decision follows a sharp drop in player engagement. While the mode generated initial interest and positive reception, most players who returned to experience the nostalgia subsequently moved back to the main game or other League modes. A Riot spokesperson stated: "We've seen a lot of players have fun revisiting the olden days with Classic. At this point though, most have gone back to other parts of League."

To address deteriorating matchmaking quality caused by declining player counts, Riot is implementing windowed queue operations in multiple regions starting with Patch 26.21. On servers in South Korea, Latin America, Taiwan, Vietnam, Southeast Asia, Oceania, Russia, and Turkey, matchmaking will only be available during designated windows: 4 p.m. to midnight on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. the following day on weekends. Japan and Middle East servers will close ranked matchmaking entirely, leaving only custom games available.

Riot will continue to add new legacy champions through Patch 26.23, including Mordekaiser, Yorick, Hecarim, Lucian, Volibear, Urgot, and Udyr. The Classic Battle Pass for Season 3 Act 2 will operate with a free-only track and no paid tier. Refunds will be issued for Classic-exclusive purchased content that will become unusable after shutdown. Rather than permanently abandoning the mode, Riot stated the goal is to reintroduce Classic "likely as an event mode with adjustments and additions" in the future, informed by data and feedback from this inaugural run. The company plans to share lessons learned about what succeeded, what could have been more faithful to past versions, and how strict adherence to legacy mechanics may have hindered engagement.