For the past 15 years, League of Legends’ seasons have been just a part of the game’s ranked competitive play, with little impact on lore or events. From 2025, Riot will introduce a new seasonal model that’s closer to other live-service games, with each year split up into three seasons that will tell a story based on one of the game’s regions. The first, arriving in January, will be titled Welcome to Noxus.
The new seasons are a major overhaul for the long-running MOBA, with Welcome to Noxus launching as LoL: Season One. Each season will run for around eight patches, or 16 weeks, and most gameplay updates, modes, minigames, and champions will be connected to the season’s overarching narrative. Each season will feature two battle passes, which will function similarly to LoL’s current Event Pass, with both a paid and a free track. A number of extraneous rewards systems scattered across the game will be streamlined, with the free battle pass track collecting most rewards in one place.
Ranked play will still follow the traditional calendar year, seeing a single large reset in January instead of timing resets with each season. Players will be able to earn a Victorious skin for each of the three seasons throughout the year, which can be unlocked by winning 15 ranked games during the season.
Riot has given a preview of what is in store when Season One launches in January, with the season set to feature the region of Noxus and its characters–which includes Arcane antagonist Ambessa, who was recently added to the game as a champion. Riot has also teased a Noxian invasion of the classic Summoner’s Rift map.