League of Legends is set for a big overhaul in 2027, as Riot lay "the groundwork for League’s next era"

"We're often asked if we're going to make League of Legends 2 someday. The answer to that has been and remains no"

League of Legends is set for some big changes as part of an overhaul targeting a 2027 release, Riot Games have confirmed following a report on the coming revamp by Bloomberg. Yep, the MOBA's devs have pulled the trigger on their official announcement a little earlier than planned, waxing lyrical about laying "the groundwork for League’s next era" now, rather than waiting to reveal all in the new year.

Starting with Bloomberg's report (paywalled), the site alleged this this League makeover is currently dubbed "League Next" and will arrive in 2027. The report pegged it as the sort of serious facelift which arguably amounts to a full remake or sequel-lite sort of reimagining. Bloomberg also claimed that Riot have announced some sort of internal reorganisation, but didn't provide any more details as to the effects that'll have.

Shortly after the report's publication, Riot put out a video which saw League studio head Andrei van Roon and executive producer Paul Bellezza confirm the lion's share of the reported big changes are coming and the 2027 target date. "We were planning to share this video with you in early January as part of the bigger season start moment, but since some early speculation is making the rounds, we felt we should share it earlier," van Roon explained a tweet.

The confirmed changes are as follows: A new "around-game" client which is "fully integrated with the in-game experience", rather than being a separate app. A "full visual overhaul" of the Summoner's Rift map, plus "gameplay changes tied to that visual update". Some tweaks to runes and how pre-game choices are made. Finally, the pair made clear that a key part of this overhaul's aimed at dragging more fresh faces into the MOBA, with Bellezza emphasising that once planned changes to the newbie onboarding experience have been made, it should be "the best time ever to get your friends into League".

"This work is part of our efforts to refocus on what we believe matters most to you," van Room summarised in his tweet. "Over the past year, we hope you’ve been feeling this in the changes we’ve been making. This next phase builds on that momentum—and lays the groundwork for League’s next era." He added that Riot plan to reveal more details about the overhaul between their Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship League tournaments next year, including a more concrete time within 2027 when you can expect the revamp to arrive.

Well, at least that gives folks plenty of time to get some more current League under their belts beforehand, as former RPS reviews guru Ed Thorn did with some egging on from streamy people earlier this year.