League of Legends Classic announced as Riot plugs leaks

Riot Games is working on a new (old) version of its 16-year-old MOBA League of Legends called League of Legends Classic. The news comes after a rash of leaks in which dataminers revealed the existence of League of Legends Classic and which champions will be playable in the game.

League of Legends Classic‘s reveal video doesn’t say much about the game itself. Instead, it shows Riot trying to figure out what, exactly, a Classic version of the game would be. Would it be a particular season trapped in amber? A specific build of the game or a set of champions with a kit from many years ago? A beta build? Based on the live-action trailer (which reads like an homage to the classic Pepe Silvia bit from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) the answer is: yes, all of that…?

Based on what League of Legends executive producer Paul “Pabro” Bellezza says in the above video, it sounds like Riot’s plan to deliver a Classic League experience might just be fluid, letting players decide which version of the game they consider “classic.”

If so, Riot Games would be taking a different approach from companies like Blizzard Entertainment, which has released World of Warcraft Classic (and classic versions of the MMO’s expansions) to give players a taste of the game’s early days. Blizzard also brought Classic modes to Overwatch, offering versions of the game that let players re-experience the game in various states of balance and with a smaller subset of heroes.

Some League of Legends dataminers have been trying to figure out exactly which era(s) of League Riot is building toward, uncovering artwork and skins from the game’s Public Beta Environment (PBE) that could provide some insight. Thus far, the results have been inconclusive.

Riot Games says that we’ll learn more in July. “Tune in to MSI Finals on July 11 at 11pm PDT for more,” reads the YouTube description of Riot’s League of Legends Classic reveal video. League of Legends‘ Mid-Season Invitational is being held in Daejeon, South Korea, so keep an eye out for further details.