League of Legends will launch "League Classic" on Wednesday, 29 July, a new mode that reverts champions, items, runes, masteries and the map to earlier versions of the game. Unlike a standard patch, which rolls out at the usual time per region, Classic will go live simultaneously across all servers (except China), meaning players in different time zones will see it launch at different local hours rather than at the same clock time each patch cycle normally follows.

Classic uses Season 3 as its base but isn't an exact recreation, incorporating modern quality-of-life improvements built up over League's 17-year history. It will launch with 60 champions — 40 originals plus 20 handpicked additions — with further champions added over time based on votes from the player base via a system called "The Council". The mode will have its own dedicated development team and balance updates, separate from the main game, addressing the notoriously "broken" champion balance of the era it recreates. In the UK, Classic goes live at 4pm BST on 29 July.