Riot Games announces new roadmap for League of Legends

Riot Games has announced a substantial overhaul to League of Legends after the 2026 season, including a new client, visuals, and game modes.

The franchise’s executive producer Paul Bellezza said these updates will “reshape parts of League in meaningful ways,” including a fully integrated in-game client, new visuals, and gameplay adjustments.

There will also be updates to runs and pre-game systems to improve the experience for new players, as well as new game modes, champion updates, and regular balance changes.

Bellezza continued to stress that Riot is not making a sequel to League of Legends, and that more details will be shared next year.

According to Bloomberg, the game’s overhaul has the internal name of ‘League Next’, and is aiming for a 2027 launch window.

Sources also told the publication that a “reorganisation of employees has also been announced.” GamesIndustry.biz has asked Riot for further clarification on this.

Last year, Riot cut 11% of its workforce resulting in 530 redundancies. This also included the closure of its publishing label Riot Forge.

A further 32 employees were affected by redundancies last October, with 27 layoffs from its Leagues team and five from Riot’s “publishing side.”