Riot Games is pulling the plug on League of Legends Classic, the throwback mode that recreated an older version of its MOBA. In a post on the official League site, quoted by Eurogamer and PCGamesN, Riot said Classic will end its current run in January 2027, just months after it launched in July.
The reason is simple, according to the team. “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,” Riot wrote. “So Classic will be available through the rest of Season 3 and will then end its current run in January 2027.”
Back in the box, for now
Riot is not ruling out a comeback. “We’ll then put Classic back in the box for now, with the goal of bringing it back, likely as an event mode with adjustments and additions,” the post said. The team also promised to share more about what it learned, including “where we think we got Classic right, where we could have gone more Classic, and where sticking too closely to the past may have held the experience back.”
Classic had a rocky run. Fans were excited to return to old-school League, but the mode drew criticism for its monetization, with retro skins locked behind a Classic-specific battle pass or real-money purchases. Riot also changed course on its champion roster partway through, moving from a small curated pool to adding champions as fast as possible.
What happens until January
Players still enjoying Classic have a few more months of updates. The next one brings Mordekaiser, Yorick, Hecarim and Lucian alongside League patch 26.21 on Wednesday, October 21, and at least two more patches of champion additions will follow, including community poll winners Volibear, Urgot and Udyr.
The Act 2 Classic battle pass arriving with patch 26.21 will only have a free track. Any paid Classic-specific content that can no longer be used after the shutdown will be refunded, with Eurogamer reporting the refunds will come back as Riot Points.
Classic versions have worked well for other online games, from World of Warcraft to Old School RuneScape, which RCG recently covered as it prepares Hardcore Worlds for November 4. League’s attempt, though, will go dark after one season.
