Riot Games has shared quite a bit of new information about League of Legends 2026 Season One, where players will head to a Demacia-themed Summoner’s Rift with a slew of changes, new skin lines, and improvements to the game. Additionally, Riot shared news about the 2026 esports season, too.
League of Legends 2026 Season One will kick off on January 8, 2026, with Patch 26.01, which will include several gameplay changes. The goal of these changes is to encourage players to shake up their strategies, make more Champions truly viable in the average game, and balance the specific needs of each role while giving players more satisfaction.
First, players will get quests for each role in-game. These quests come with various rewards that are dependent on the player’s role. For example, mid laners can get a faster recall and free tier-three boots, while bottom laners can get more gold accumulation as well as a seventh item slot.
Part of boosting player satisfaction includes making games a bit faster. This starts at the beginning, and Patch 26.01 will implement a faster Champion Select period, and the first minion wave and jungle monsters will spawn quicker at the start.
Other gameplay details include new map details, like Faelights and Crystalline Overgrowth, along with special changes for Swiftplay and Ranked. Plus, More specifics will be available when the patch goes live tomorrow.
2025 Season One will center around Demacia, which means the map will take on several Demacia motifs like wings, petricite towers, and gold details. A new meta game called Demacia Rising will be released, giving players a chance to experience the rise of the nation. Updates will be released throughout the season to go through Demacia’s history.
Additionally, Demacia will be featured in several motion comics that will be released throughout the season. These will tie back with the cinematic, which players can view below:
This season will also see an update to Shyvana, including a visual change and some minor changes to her kit. These changes will take place during Act 2, which is when players will learn more about what the changes are.
Riot is also making a few changes to cut back on negative player behavior. First, there’s a lobby hostage intervention mechanic that will immediately end lobbies where one player is threatening to ruin a game. In order to make sure this is an accurate system, this system will be rolled out slowly across each region. Additionally, players won’t be able to ban Champions that their allies are hovering.
Several new skins are coming with League of Legends 2026 Season One. While there will be some that pertain to Demacia, like the darker skins in Act 2, there are plenty coming that have nothing to do with the region, such as the following:
- Battle Academia skins for Briar and Samira (Patch 26.02)
- Lunar Revel: Petals of Spring skins, along with the return of the Firecracker skins
- Standalone April Fools’ skins
- New skinline theme coming during First Stand period
- Prestige Veiled Lady Moragna, then Prestige skins for Sona and Mordekaiser
- Revenant Reign Viego (Exalted skin)
- Braum Victorious Skin
Riot also announced a few details coming for the 2026 Esports Season at the same time.
First Stand, which is the first international event in 2026, will last from March 16 to March 22, and it will be held in São Paulo, Brazil. During this, the LCS and CBLOL will be returning as independent leagues, meaning there will be eight teams in the competition (one for each of the LEC, LCS, CBLOL, and LCP, and two each from the LCK and LPL).
Additionally, a new feature called First Selection is being implemented at the highest levels of tournaments. This decouples side selection and draft order, giving teams the choice to select a side or choose to pick their Champions first/second. More information on this will be available in the near future.
Last but not least, Hall of Legends will be returning a little later in 2026. However, it will still come back prior to Worlds 2026. Riot will share more on this in the next few months, including the third inductee after Faker and Uzi.
Riot Games also shared some of its long-term vision for League of Legends. These include some of the same things it’s been doing, such as Champion updates, new game modes, and consistent balance changes.
However, it also includes new things. For example, it’s working on a brand-new client update that’s integrated with the game itself. Riot is also working on a new version of Summoner’s Rift with new visuals and gameplay elements, along with changes to runes and other pre-game systems. There will also be changes to the new player onboarding experience.
More news about these major changes will come later this year, specifically between MSI and Worlds 2026.
