Image: Riot Games
The new year for League of Legends will kick off with Season 1's Noxian Invasion.
2025 is shaping up to a very different look for League of Legends (LoL), as developer Riot Games has introduced a new thematic seasonal structure to the game alongside a new epic jungle monster, Swiftplay, and a few more gameplay changes.
This was announced in the dev diaries video on Monday (25 November). LoL executive producers Paul "Pabro" Bellezza, Andrei “Meddler” van Roon, and other members of the LoL dev team discussed what's coming to the game in 2025.
New Thematic Seasonal structure
One of the most significant updates that will shake up 2025 for LoL is the introduction of the Seasons model. Under this new model, gameplay updates, modes, mini-games, and champions will all be tied to a single theme or region instead of events that don't connect. Seasonal skins matching the season's theme will also be released alongside regular skin lines.
"Next year, we're going to have three seasons, each round eight patches long, where we'll follow champions of different regions of Runeterra," Seasons Lead Chad "Mackivor" Ballard explained.
Each season's theme and region will also be tied under one overarching narrative for the year. According to Stephanie "100 pc nuggets" Leung, the cosmetics lead, each season's theme will be "the anchor to the content that will be released."
"In seasons, we want everything to connect together," Mackivor added.
Season 1 will zoom in on the vicious, merciless and powerful kingdom of Noxus. Expect the Summoner's Rift to get a bit of a facelift to align with the theme, including the look of the Nexus turrets, the flags, and "everything in between".
At Noxus, we can expect to highlight a few champions in Arcane, like Ambessa and Leblanc. However, we might also see the spotlight on other Noxian champions, like Darius, Draven, Katarina, Riven, Swain, Samira, Vladimir, and more.
New Jungle monster: Atakhan, Bringer of Ruin
The new epic jungle monster Atakhan, Bringer of Ruin, will be introduced in Season One. At the 20-minute mark of each game, Atakhan will spawn on the side of the map that has taken the most damage from champions and the most deaths up to that point (14 minutes in, depending on which side).
Once he appears, the terrain changes with two additional walls to mark where Atakhan will spawn. Blood Roses will also spawn which, when gathered, grants Adaptive Force buffs.
Atakhan has two forms:
- Ruinous Atakhan spawns in high-action matches, rewarding players with Bloody Petals and buffing monster effects.
- Voracious Atakhan will spawn in slower games. When defeated, it grants the squad a one-time Rebirth bonus that allows them to revive themselves in base upon incurring fatal damage.
And because Atakhan will be on the Summoner’s Rift, Baron Nashor will now spawn at the 25-minute mark while the Rift Herald will appear at the 16-minute mark.
Gameplay changes
Nexus Turrets respawning
Teams who are about to lose now have a higher chance of making a comeback since Nexus turrets will respawn after a certain amount of time has passed after they are destroyed.
Noxian-themed boot upgrades: Feats of Strength
The first three teams to complete the following three objectives — first blood, first tower, and first three epic jungle monsters — will be awarded access to these boots with enhanced stats and a Noxian-themed final tier.
Vision and Runes
Deep Ward, Sixth Sense, and Grisly Memento will balance vision options, and a brand-new addition to the Sorcery tree called Axiom Arcanist makes ultimate abilities more powerful.
Teleport changes
The "Summoner Spell Teleport" is now designed to cause the champion to visibly move across the map rather than blinking immediately after casting it. Meanwhile, "Unleashed Teleport" will speed up the champion's travel time while they are teleporting.
Small-scope adjustments to items
There will be very few small-scope adjustments to tank items. However, a new item called Bloodletter's Curse will be introduced. This new item reduces the target's magic resistance from repeated ability hits.
New Game mode: Swiftplay
Swiftplay, a potential replacement for Quickplay, will be available in select regions in January. It aims to provide a lower-stakes experience than Summoner's Rift. It's a lower-stakes experience which is more strategic than ARAM but keeps most of the core gameplay of the Summoner's Rift.
More information on upcoming Season 2025 changes can be found in the dev diaries.
