Riot to End League of Legends Classic in January 2027, Adds Windowed Queues in Patch 26.21

Riot Games announced operational changes for League of Legends Classic in an official developer blog on October 14, saying the current service will end in January 2027 when Season 3 concludes. The change was reported by inven.co.kr.

Starting with the upcoming patch 26.21, the Korean server and several other regions will switch to a windowed queue system, where matchmaking is only active during specific hours. Those hours are 4 PM to midnight on weekdays and 10 AM to 1 AM the next day on weekends, according to each server's local time.

For the Japanese (JP1) and Middle Eastern (ME1) servers, normal matchmaking queues will be closed and only custom games will be available starting in patch 26.21.

Riot also detailed content changes for the patch. The Season 3 Act 2 Classic Battle Pass will be a single free track with no paid options, and after patch 26.21 the Classic shop will only sell champions, runes, and rune pages.

Patch 26.21 will add Mordekaiser, Yorick, Hecarim, and Lucian to the game. The developers plan to release champions every patch up to patch 26.23, including Volibear, Urgot, and Udyr.

Earlier updates

League of Legends Classic was officially launched on July 30, 2025, restoring early game systems like AP Master Yi, Deathfire Grasp, and old runes and masteries. The recent patch 26.20 added Irelia, Karma, Quinn, Aatrox, and Caitlyn to the game.