Riot Games is reportedly working on a total makeover of League of Legends, according to Bloomberg.
The upcoming overhaul is allegedly called “League Next” and will be an update to the existing League of Legends rather than a standalone game, though it sounds like it’s effectively a remake. Bloomberg suggests that the update will fully revamp the game’s visual aesthetic including hcaracters, UI, and arenas. There will also be adjustments behind the scenes to help make future updates smoother. It is unclear at this time if the changes will impact game mechanics.
The report suggests that League Next is planned for release in 2027, and will be the biggest update to League of Legends in the game’s nearly two-decade-long history.
Bloomberg also claims that Riot has announced an internal reorganization, but did not provide any further details on how this will impact the studio at this time.
League of Legends was first released in 2009, and in a rare feat for a game that old has remained wildly popular ever since. It’s a multiplayer online battle arena, a MOBA, originally inspired by Warcraft 3 custom map Defense of the Ancients, and played a massive role in pioneering and popularizing the MOBA genre. It has gone on to inspire a number of spin-offs, including digital card game Legends of Runeterra, a mobile version of the game called Wild Rift, and a popular TV series: Arcane.
Bloomberg reports that League of Legends still has over 100 million players each month. The game also continues to be one of the world’s biggest esports, with the finals of its World Championship hosted in 2025 in China reaching 6.7 million viewers virtually.
League of Legends has remained so big for so long that we actually re-reviewed it years after our initial 2009 launch review…in 2014. At the time, we said it was “an amazing and intense MOBA with great depth, tons of character, and a huge community.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
