League of Legends Is Getting Its Biggest Upgrade Ever
League of Legends has been around for 16 years, which is ancient by online game standards. Over that time it has grown into one of the biggest PC games on the planet, but that success comes with a major problem. The game is intimidating for new players, and the core community is getting older with fewer fresh faces jumping in.
According to a new report, Riot Games is preparing the biggest update in League of Legends history. Internally called League Next, this long term project aims to overhaul the game’s visuals, modernize the client and improve the experience for newcomers, all while keeping the same competitive core that keeps veterans hooked.
Riot has not fully revealed League Next yet, but a follow up video from the studio confirms that big changes are coming after 2026. For PC gamers who care about long term live service titles, this could be one of the most important overhauls in years.
What Riot Wants To Change With League Next
The Bloomberg report describes League Next as a sweeping upgrade to the game’s visual aesthetic. This is not a small texture pass. Riot is looking at the entire presentation of League of Legends, including:
- Champions and character visuals
- Battle arenas like Summoner’s Rift
- The overall interface and around game experience
The idea is to make League more welcoming to new players without losing the identity that long time fans know. After the report went live, Riot released a video titled A look at some of our plans for League after 2026. In it, executive producer Paul Pabro Bellezza and head of studio Andrei Meddler van Roon laid out several key upgrades.
First, Riot is building a brand new around game client. Right now League uses a separate launcher style client that sits outside the game. Van Roon says the new system will be fully integrated with the in game experience instead of feeling like a separate app. For PC players, that should mean fewer clunky transitions between the lobby, champion select and the match itself, and potentially better performance and stability overall.
Next, Summoner’s Rift is getting a major visual revamp plus some gameplay tweaks. Bellezza explains that Riot is redoing the map’s visuals from the ground up and adding a bit of new gameplay along the way. That suggests changes to map readability, environmental clarity and how players read fights at a glance. For a game as old as League, bringing the main map up to modern PC standards is a big deal.
Finally, Riot is focusing heavily on the new player experience. Bellezza says the team is overhauling how new players enter the game so that once they are done it should be the best time ever to get your friends into League. That likely means better tutorials, more guided onboarding, and a clearer early progression path instead of dropping newcomers into a sea of smurfs and veterans.
Riot is not calling this League of Legends 2 but the scope sounds close to a soft relaunch built on the existing game.
Why Riot Is Betting Big On League Again
Riot’s renewed focus on League is not happening in a vacuum. The company has had a tough couple of years. In early 2024 it laid off 530 employees and shut down Riot Forge, the initiative that partnered with external studios to make single player League of Legends spin offs like Ruined King, Mageseeker, Bandle Tale, Song of Nunu and Convergence. Those games were generally well received but they never turned into big hits.
Another wave of layoffs hit in October 2025. At that time co founder Marc Merrill said the studio was refocusing on its core MOBA and looking at what League needs to stay strong for another 15 years. He stressed that the goal was not just cutting staff to save money but reshaping the team around the expertise required for League’s next phase. Riot even expects the League team to eventually be larger than it is now as these big updates move forward.
This all matters because League is still a huge force in PC gaming. The 2025 World Championship carried a base prize pool of 5 million dollars, and the game remains one of the biggest esports in the world. But the player demographic is aging and fewer new players are joining, which is not sustainable forever. League Next is clearly meant to reset that trajectory.
There is also the competitive landscape. Riot and Valve’s Dota 2 have dominated the MOBA genre for so long that new games struggle to survive at all. Recent titles like Supervive and Seekers of Skyveil have already shut down shortly after launch. Gigantic: Rampage Edition has effectively no player base on Steam, and Amazon chose to sell its in development MOBA March of Giants to Ubisoft rather than release it. There is not much room for a completely new competitor, which makes a major refresh of an existing giant like League a more realistic path forward.
What This Means For PC Gamers
For current League players, League Next could dramatically change how the game looks and feels without replacing it entirely. Expect a cleaner, more modern visual style, a smoother client and possibly some adjustments to how Summoner’s Rift plays. The big question is how far Riot will go. If gameplay changes feel too disruptive, long time players may push back. If the update is too conservative, it might not be enough to bring in a new generation.
For PC gamers who have never tried League or bounced off it years ago, the revamped new player experience is the most promising part. Riot seems to understand that dropping rookies into a 16 year old competitive ecosystem is not working. Better onboarding and a more inviting presentation could finally give newcomers a chance to learn without getting crushed and flamed out of the game.
League Next is still a long way off, with Riot only talking openly about plans for after 2026. But the pieces are clear. Riot is betting that a massive upgrade built on the existing League of Legends will keep one of PC gaming’s biggest titles alive and relevant for another decade or more. Whether that turns into a true League 2.0 or just a very polished evolution will be one of the big stories to watch in competitive PC gaming over the next few years.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/a-major-overhaul-of-league-of-legends-is-reportedly-coming-in-2027-once-were-done-it-should-be-the-best-time-ever-to-get-your-friends-into-league/
