Over the past 15 years, League of Legends' seasons have primarily focused on ranked competitive play, with minimal impact on the game's lore or events. Starting in 2025, Riot Games will revamp the seasonal model to align more closely with other live-service games. Each year will be divided into three distinct seasons, each centered around one of the game's regions and featuring a narrative-driven storyline. The inaugural season in January will be titled 'Welcome to Noxus,' marking the beginning of LoL: Season One.
This new approach represents a significant shift for the long-standing MOBA. Each season will span approximately eight patches, or 16 weeks, with most gameplay updates, modes, minigames, and champions tied to the season's narrative. Additionally, each season will introduce two battle passes, mirroring LoL's current Event Pass system, with both paid and free tracks. Several scattered reward systems will be consolidated, with the free battle pass track offering a centralized collection of rewards.
Ranked play will continue to follow the traditional calendar year, with a single major reset in January, rather than aligning with each season. Players will have the opportunity to earn a Victorious skin for each of the three seasons by winning 15 ranked games during that season. Riot has provided a glimpse into what players can expect when Season One launches in January, focusing on the Noxian region and its characters, including the recently introduced champion Ambessa from Arcane.
Season One will also introduce a significant change to the Rift with the addition of Atakhan, a new jungle boss spawning only once per game. Atakhan will appear at the 20-minute mark on either the top or bottom side, based on which team has accrued the most champion damage and kills by the 14-minute mark. His arena will permanently alter the map's terrain, and he can spawn in two different forms, each dropping a unique buff. This addition will necessitate slight adjustments to other boss timings, with the Rift Herald now spawning at 16 minutes and Baron Nashor at 25 minutes.
As Arcane, Riot's animated series set in the League of Legends universe, concluded its second and final season, the show's influence on the game continues. A visual and gameplay update for champion Viktor is currently live on the PBE test server, aligning his appearance, lore, and abilities with the version depicted in Arcane. Although Arcane has ended, Riot plans to explore other regions in future TV shows, with Arcane showrunner Christian Linke recently announcing that Noxus, Ionia, and Demacia will be the next regions adapted for television.
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