At the end of June, we covered the news that Riot Games has been working on League of Legends Classic, after the studio was forced to reveal it early to keep up with the dataminers who leaked it out. Today, the studio is more formally revealing the project in a new dev video and announcement. In fact, we’re finding out it’s coming sooner than we might have thought on July 29th.
“On July 29 in Patch 26.15, League of Legends will release League of Legends Classic, a new gameplay experience that recreates the feel of early League while modernizing select systems for today’s players,” Riot says. “While anchored in 2013’s Season 3, League Classic gameplay is a collection of greatest hits from across early League rather than an exact recreation of a single patch.”
Admitting that even the dev team is feeling some “nostalgia” for the old days, EP Paul Bellezza says League Classic is meant to honor the game’s roots while “still bringing something new to the table.”
“League Classic features old-school Runes and Masteries, items, Summoner Spells, a starting roster of 60 classic champions with many pre-rework kits, and a recreation of the Summoner’s Rift map. Over the years, League of Legends has evolved into a substantially more complex game, with more diverse champion fantasies, skill expression, and mobility. In League Classic, combat pacing is more similar to how it was in the past and champions have sharper strengths and weaknesses, encouraging more strategic decision making. The League Classic map features targeted improvements to lighting, textures, and shadows, to heighten gameplay clarity.”
Additionally, the studio is introducing a voting system to tally player input on the future of the mode. “Players will gain access to The Council through Classic Level and will be able to unlock additional voting power through gameplay, allowing players who spend more time in Classic to have more of a voice in The Council,” the team says.
