Riot Shuts Down League of Legends Classic in January 2027, Players Return to Main League
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- Riot Games memastikan layanan League of Legends Classic berakhir pada Januari 2027, hanya tiga bulan setelah peluncurannya pada Juli 2026.
- Keputusan ini diambil karena sebagian besar pemain kembali ke League of Legends reguler, meski Riot tidak menutup peluang menghadirkan Classic sebagai mode event di masa depan.
- Pemain di Asia Tenggara, termasuk Indonesia, hanya bisa mengakses Classic pada jadwal tertentu mulai pekan depan, sementara konten khusus Classic akan direfund.
Riot Games officially announced the shutdown of League of Legends Classic in January 2027, marking the end of the throwback mode experiment that launched only last July. The announcement was made on the official League of Legends page, alongside the launch of Season 3 Act 2, stating that Classic will remain available until the end of Season 3 2026 before being fully retired.
The decision was made after Riot assessed that player interest in Classic did not last long. "We saw many players having fun reminiscing about the past with Classic. However, at this point most of them have returned to other parts of League," Riot wrote in its official statement. Even so, Riot stressed that players remain loyal to the League of Legends ecosystem as a whole, rather than leaving the game entirely.
This phenomenon differs from what World of Warcraft experienced when it first launched its Classic mode. WoW Classic succeeded in bringing back veteran players who were disappointed with the current version, while LoL Classic instead lost its appeal in a short time. Riot has not closed the door on bringing Classic back in the future, possibly as an event mode with various adjustments and additional content.
Although the service will be discontinued, Riot is still bringing several new champions to Classic. Mordekaiser, Yorick, Hecarim, and Lucian will join in patch 26.21, followed by Volibear, Urgot, and Udyr through patch 26.23. This move appears to be a kind of farewell for loyal Classic players, as well as Riot's effort to keep providing a complete playing experience until the end of the service period.
"Our goal is to bring Classic back in the future, possibly as an event mode with adjustments and additions," said Riot Games.
For players in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, this decision has a direct impact. Starting next week, access to Classic is no longer available at any time. Riot is limiting play hours to avoid long queues on the servers. Players in this region can only log in on weekdays from 16.00 to midnight, and on weekends from Saturday 10.00 to Sunday early morning 01.00 server time. This restriction certainly reduces flexibility, especially for those who usually play outside those hours.
Riot's decision to shut down Classic also reflects the increasingly competitive dynamics of the gaming industry. Throwback modes were indeed once a popular strategy for bringing back veteran players, but they do not always succeed in retaining them. In the case of LoL Classic, initial enthusiasm appears not to have been matched by long-term retention. Riot seems to be learning from this failure and plans to share the lessons learned, both successes and failures, to refine future iterations of Classic.
Going forward, the big question is whether Riot will actually bring Classic back as an event mode, or instead shift focus to developing the main League of Legends. For players who still want to reminisce, the remaining window until January 2027 can be used as well as possible. However, with the play-hour restrictions and refunds provided, Riot seems to have prepared a measured farewell scenario.
