Riot ends League of Legends Classic’s current run in January 2027

Riot Games says League of Legends Classic will end its current run in January 2027, only months after the retro mode launched in July 2026. The League team says most players have moved back to other parts of League, and Classic will now be taken offline after the rest of Season 3 before returning later in a revised form.

In Riot’s official blog post, the studio said: “At this point though, most have gone back to other parts of League.” It added that Classic will remain available through Season 3, then be “put back in the box for now,” with the goal of bringing it back “likely as an event mode with adjustments and additions.”

The wording makes clear that Riot does not intend to keep Classic running as a standing mode in its current shape. Instead, the company is treating this launch as a first pass. It plans to study what worked, what did not, and where the team may have leaned too hard on old mechanics rather than adapting them for modern play.

What Riot says happens next

Riot says it will share more later about the lessons from this run. The studio says that includes “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.” The team also asked players to keep sending feedback on what they loved and what they did not.

The future return Riot is describing is not a straight rerun of the current mode. The studio says the goal is to bring Classic back as an event mode with adjustments and additions, which points to a different release structure and likely a different ruleset. Riot has not given a date for that return, and has not outlined the exact changes it wants to make.

The January 2027 end date applies to Classic’s current run, not to the idea of Classic itself. Riot is framing the mode as something it may revisit later after another round of design work. That means the version players have now is temporary, even if the concept is not gone for good.

Region changes and queue limits

Riot is also changing how Classic will be available in some regions before the mode ends. The developer says some regions with lower play rates will move to a windowed queue, because those areas have seen especially long queue times and large MMR discrepancies as players shift back to modern modes.

Japan and MENA are getting a stricter setup. From 26.21, those regions will have custom matches only. Riot says Classic custom games will still be available at all times in all regions, even where queue access is being narrowed.

The studio has told players to watch patch notes for more information on the queue windows. It also said the upcoming details will explain where those windows open and how long they remain active, though it has not yet listed the full schedule in the blog post itself.

• Classic stays live through the rest of Season 3 of 2026.
• The current run ends in January 2027.
• Some regions will switch to windowed queues.
• JP and MENA will have custom matches only from 26.21.
• Custom games remain available in all regions.

Refunds, battle pass changes and old champions

Riot is refunding Classic-specific cosmetic content that will no longer be usable. Those refunds will be issued in Riot Points, the game’s premium currency. The studio says the move covers content that will no longer have a role in the mode once the current changes take effect.

The Act II Classic Battle Pass is changing too. Riot says it will ship in 26.21 with one unified free track. From 26.21 onward, the Classic store will only contain Champions, Runes and Rune Pages.

The mode is still getting its remaining champion releases before the current run closes. Riot says Irelia, Karma, Quinn, Aatrox and Caitlyn “just came out” in 26.20, while Mordekaiser, Yorick, Hecarim and Lucian are scheduled for 26.21. It also says Volibear, Urgot and Udyr will continue to release through 26.23.

Those three were the top finishers in Riot’s most recent Council poll. They are also the champions most directly tied to the closing stretch of Classic’s current rollout, since Riot says all three will still arrive as planned before the mode ends.

Classic’s launch drew attention from longtime League players who wanted to revisit an older version of the game. Riot’s setup also drew criticism because players had to earn or buy the retro look through a Classic-specific battle pass or purchase it with real money. The core gameplay may have been built around older move sets, but the cosmetic model sparked debate from the start.

That tension is still part of the mode’s story now. Riot says the current run has given the team room to see what players respond to, and what parts of the experience may need to change before a future return. The studio’s note repeatedly points toward a version that is less rigidly historical and more willing to add, adjust and reorganise features when Classic comes back.

Riot also described the mode as a “true labor of love” from many employees, saying the team appreciated players revisiting the nostalgia, reconnecting with old friends and reliving old glory days. The company thanked players for social media posts, Council votes and the time spent in the mode, tying the current run to feedback from the community rather than treating it as a one-off experiment.

The practical reality is simpler: Classic is staying up through Season 3, then going away in January 2027, with refunds, queue changes and a handful of champion releases still to come before the shutdown. What comes back later will be an altered version, not the exact mode Riot launched in July.

Related coverage: Riot says League Classic will end its current run in January 2027