Riot Games is preparing the most ambitious overhaul in the history of League of Legends, often described as a de facto sequel. While the goal is to modernize the game and attract new players, the real issue runs far deeper than any remake can easily solve.
Riot Games plans to roll out the largest update League of Legends has ever seen in 2027. The project resembles a full rebuild, addressing everything from the notoriously flawed client to long-standing visual inconsistencies. The intention is to ensure the game remains strong for the next fifteen years, just as it dominated the previous decade and a half. On paper, this sounds like excellent news, yet one of Riot’s core objectives appears especially difficult to achieve.
Riot Games wants to rejuvenate League of Legends
Over the past few years, Riot Games has openly acknowledged that the League of Legends player base is getting older. The title still benefits from an exceptionally loyal community, sustaining player numbers most live-service games could only dream of. However, attracting new players has become increasingly difficult. This challenge affects the entire MOBA genre and points to a deeper structural issue rather than something a single update can fix.
When League of Legends and Dota 2 first launched, competition in the free-to-play space was minimal. Players were discovering these games together, learning systems that were simpler and far less overwhelming. Joining LoL in its early seasons meant encountering others who were equally inexperienced. Today, that environment no longer exists.
Riot hopes its League Next initiative will change that. Executive producer Paul Bellezza stated in the update announcement: “We’re going to make sweeping changes to the new player experience so that, when it’s ready, it’ll be the best time ever to bring your friends to LoL.” The question remains whether onboarding improvements alone can truly make a difference.
The problem with League of Legends goes much deeper
It is tempting to blame complexity. With more than 170 champions, countless abilities, around a hundred items, and a constantly shifting meta, League of Legends demands a significant time investment. While this is part of the issue, it is not the decisive factor.
August Browning, a Riot developer since 2012, previously explained why the game struggles to retain newcomers. According to him, difficulty is not the main deterrent. Many players enjoy complex games. The real issue lies in how punishing the experience feels when things go wrong.
“There’s a huge difference between a difficult game where mistakes are still fun and one where every loss feels miserable. New players don’t quit because they lose; they quit because losing in LoL feels worse than in almost any other game.”
The classic MOBA snowball effect magnifies this problem. Early setbacks lead to overwhelming disadvantages, often leaving players unable to meaningfully participate for long stretches of a match. Unless Riot finds a way to make defeat more engaging, no amount of tutorials or remakes will be enough. Whether League Next addresses this remains to be seen when Riot reveals more details next year.
Source: 3djuegos
