League Classic is ending: Riot will close the mode in January 2027 and hopes to bring it back as an event

League Classic is going back in the box. Riot Games said on Oct. 14, 2026, that the throwback mode will close its current run in January 2027.

When is League Classic ending? League Classic will stay available through the end of Season 3 of 2026 and then end its current run in January 2027. Riot explained that a lot of players had fun revisiting the early days of League of Legends, but that most have since gone back to other parts of the game.

It isn’t a permanent goodbye. Riot says its goal is to bring Classic back in the future, likely as an event mode with adjustments and additions, and that it will share more about what it learned from this run, including where sticking too closely to the past held the mode back. It hasn’t given a return date.

What changes in Patch 26.21. The next patch, 26.21, starts the wind-down. Regions where many players have moved back to modern modes, which led to long queue times and big skill gaps, are moving to queue windows: Korea, Latin America North, Latin America South, Taiwan, Vietnam, Turkey, Southeast Asia, Oceania and Russia. In those regions, Classic runs from 4 p.m. to midnight server time on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. on weekends. Japan and MENA get custom matches only, and Classic custom games stay open everywhere.

The Act II Classic Battle Pass arrives in 26.21 with one free track and no paid tier. Riot is refunding Classic-specific content that will no longer be usable, and from 26.21 on, the Classic store sells only champions, runes and rune pages.

Riot is still adding champions. Irelia, Karma, Quinn, Aatrox and Caitlyn arrived in Patch 26.20, and Mordekaiser, Yorick, Hecarim and Lucian come in 26.21. New champions keep arriving every patch through 26.23, including Volibear, Urgot and Udyr, the top three picks in the latest vote of The Council, the community voting system Riot built for Classic.

Riot revealed League Classic on July 14, 2026, and it launched with Patch 26.15 at the start of Season 3. It recreated the early Summoner’s Rift, with Season 3 as the anchor and a greatest-hits mix of old items, runes, masteries and pre-rework champion kits. It started with 60 champions, the original 40 plus 20 more released between 2009 and 2013, and added groups over the following patches, like the Demacians in 26.18.

Riot is also busy with Worlds, which runs through the final in Brooklyn on Nov. 14, 2026. Follow every result on our Worlds 2026 schedule and results page.

This page is updated as soon as Riot shares the final League Classic date or plans for its return.