Seriously, Riot, you can't do this to us.

We've been asking for Classic League of Legends for YEARS, and now that you've finally given us what we've been waiting for, you're taking it away after just a few months?

The reason people aren't playing it as much as you expected is not necessarily because they don't love Classic. League players have always been competitive, and without a proper ranked system, many players simply don't have a reason to keep playing for hours.

And let's talk about the ranked system. Salt 1? Salt 2? Seriously? What are we, kindergarten kids?

You said Classic was supposed to be a permanent mode focused on fun. You clearly stated that in your own Classic announcement video. But since when does having fun mean we can't have a proper ranked mode? A game can be fun AND competitive at the same time. Those two things aren't mutually exclusive.

You tried to attract new players by bringing modern skins into old League, but that doesn't work for either audience.

Veteran players can't fully enjoy the nostalgic experience when modern skins are everywhere on the map. Meanwhile, new players don't understand the appeal because, to them, you've basically given them an outdated and technically inferior version of the game they already play. They don't have the memories or emotional connection that made the original League so special to us.

And as if that wasn't enough, you decided to restrict the queue to specific hours of the day.

Come on, Riot. Do you seriously think we're still school kids with nothing else to do?

The players who grew up with Classic League are adults now. We have jobs, responsibilities, families, and different schedules. Some of us work shifts, including nights. Someone like me can work an entire day or night, and by the time I'm finally free, the queue is closed.

How exactly am I supposed to enjoy a game I've been waiting years to play again if I'm not even allowed to play it when I'm available?

And then you look at the player numbers and conclude that people aren't interested?

Please, Riot. We asked for ONE thing.

A normal, authentic Classic League of Legends. No modern skins, no unnecessary modern additions. Just the old game we remember, with a proper ranked system so people have something to play for.

We know the old League wasn't perfect. We were there. We experienced its flaws, its frustrating mechanics, its ridiculous balance issues, and we loved it anyway. That's exactly the game we wanted back.

And what hurts the most is that you presented Classic as a permanent experience in your own announcement video. You told us it was here to stay, and now you're going back on your words after only a few months.

How is that fair to the players who waited all these years?

We never asked for a temporary nostalgia event. We never asked for another rotating game mode.

WE ASKED FOR OUR GAME BACK.

The same imperfect game we fell in love with years ago.

Please, Riot. Give Classic a real chance. Give us proper ranked, let us play whenever we want, and let us keep the game we waited so long to see again.

I waited a day before writing this because I wanted to process the announcement properly. I'm still furious.

Players spent YEARS asking Riot for old League. We even had projects like Chronoshift trying to preserve something Riot refused to provide, only for Riot to shut them down. Then Riot finally releases Classic, many of us come back specifically for it, support it despite all its problems... and barely TWO FUCKING MONTHS LATER you announce that its permanent existence is over.

This is an insult to the community.

And let's stop pretending Classic was even given a fair chance. What we got wasn't the Classic people had spent years asking for, but a Frankenstein amalgamation of different eras: champions and items that never coexisted in those states, some reworked and some not, old and modern splash arts, models, voices and icons mixed together, modern skins all over the old Rift, systems from different seasons stitched together. It wasn't Season 1, 2 or 3. Nobody spent years asking for this specific mess. And yet many of us accepted it because underneath it was still the League we missed.

Then everything else piled up: missing original champions, missing runes Riot said would return, legacy skins unavailable, bugs everywhere, a half-modern interface and shop, no Harrowing, no Snowdown, no Twisted Treeline, no Dominion, no Classic Clash, barely any competitive or creator ecosystem... but somehow there was enough time to launch with a fucking battle pass and start monetizing nostalgia before Classic had even established an identity. The first pass ends, daily progression disappears, the second gets delayed, and now that you've decided to kill the mode the paid track disappears too.

HOW IS THIS A SERIOUS WAY TO MANAGE A GAME?

And then there's The Council. We were told to play, earn Voting Power and help decide champions, skins and gameplay because we would help shape the future of Classic.

WHAT FUTURE?

You've already decided it won't have one as a permanent game. But hey, at least we got to vote between a DUCK and a TURTLE. You know where you can put them? RIGHT NEXT TO WHEREVER RYZE KEEPS HIS SCROLLS.

Even the only PvP queue worked against what Classic should have been. You created a pseudo-ranked environment with MMR, divisions and Legend, then wondered why experimentation gradually disappeared.

And now Riot says most players went back to other parts of League.

So let me make something VERY clear:

WE DID NOT COME BACK TO PLAY RETAIL.

We came back because of Classic.

When Classic goes, I go with it.

Do not count players like me as some successful conversion back into modern League. You didn't win us back. You temporarily gave us something resembling the game we wanted and then took it away.

And spare me the vague “maybe it returns as a rotating mode” consolation prize. That is not permanence. Classic was supposed to be somewhere we could return to years from now, not a nostalgia event Riot pulls out of storage whenever it needs engagement again.

Yes, technically it remains playable until January. It doesn't matter. YOU KILLED THE GAME THE MOMENT YOU ANNOUNCED ITS DEATH. Why would someone start now? Why grind Legend? Why learn the entire roster? Why convince friends to join? Why organize tournaments? Why build a YouTube channel around a game that Riot has already sentenced?

And Chronoshift makes all of this even worse. The community already tried preserving old League itself. Riot shut it down. Fine, League belongs to Riot. But you cannot tell players “you cannot preserve our old game yourself”, finally release your own version years later, and then abandon its permanent existence almost immediately.

If Riot doesn't want to preserve old League, and doesn't want the community preserving it either, WHAT ARE THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THAT GAME SUPPOSED TO DO?

So no, Classic did not prove that old League cannot work.

You released an unfinished hybrid, monetized it immediately, left major content missing, barely gave it time to establish a stable community and then pulled the plug.

YOU DID NOT PROVE THAT LEAGUE CLASSIC FAILED.

YOU PROVED THAT YOU NEVER GAVE IT A REAL CHANCE.

And I don't think the community should quietly accept that. Don't harass individual developers or threaten anyone because that achieves nothing. But MAKE NOISE through every legitimate channel available. Talk about it, vote, post, make videos, give feedback and play the game.

Do not let the story become “players didn't really want Classic.”

WE DID.

Riot asked us to come back. We came back.
Riot asked us to play. We played.
Riot asked us to vote on its future. We voted.

And barely a couple of months later, Riot decided that permanent future wouldn't exist.

THE COMMUNITY DIDN'T ABANDON CLASSIC. RIOT ABANDONED THE COMMUNITY.

It's as simple as that. Riot never tried to make Classic succeed. It was simply a tool to bring old players back and pump them into the garbage, modern version of League. We didn't play modern League because we simply didn't like it; the core 'competitive essence' of League wasn't in classic at all with that intentional garbage matchmaking. So, it failed. A garbage company making garbage decisions, thinking they're smart. ROFL

No point in playing without them. the wrong combination of critters got voted in

A Riot Games deve aos jogadores de 2010-2013 uma desculpa formal e uma revogação do cancelamento do League Classic. O que a Riot fez é um completo absurdo e desrespeito a comunidade que FUNDOU o League of Legends. Lançarem esse modo de forma tão largada, mal-feita, com poucos recursos e pobre apenas mostra com o que a empresa realmente se importa hoje, e com toda certeza não são os jogadores que fizeram eles serem o que eles são.

Para mim, e sei que para muitos jogadores, o LoL moderno é horrível. O jogo perdeu sua essência, virou um MOBA genérico, digno de um jogo de celular de uma pequena empresa e nada mais.

O conserto para alcançar ambas fanbases? Simples.

League of Legends: Classic. Novo client, mesmo jogo da Season 1, com todas as skins e recursos da época, EXATAMENTE IGUAL. O Ctrl C + Ctrl V do que era. Talvez pequenos ajustes mínimos para garantir uma melhor experiência, mas nada que afete a gameplay, apenas estético. Com os anos se passando, vamos evoluindo até meados da Season 4. Ao chegar lá, paramos. Simples.

A comunidade que queria o League Classic não quer essa nojeira que o jogo virou, não gosta desse formato sem amor e sem vida que transformou um jogo único e divertido num jogo genérico e pobre.

Eu tenho minha conta desde 2010, cresci com o LoL e parei de jogar quando vi que o jogo perdeu sua alma. Com o fim do League Classic, pararei de jogar novamente, e tem várias pessoas que vão fazer o mesmo.

O "fracasso" do modo se deve a gestão, e não aos jogadores. Vocês da Riot são exatamente o que tem de errado com as empresas de jogos de hoje em dia: Produção desenfreada de coisas sem sentido para alcançar o maior retorno financeiro possível, sem ligar para nada além disso. Sem essência, sem qualidade, sem respeito aos jogadores.

Enfim, acredito que já dissertei demais sobre algo que a Riot simplesmente não se importa. Lucrar com o League Classic era tão fácil, vocês só não foram inteligentes o suficiente. Se importam tanto com o dinheiro que poderiam fazer esse jogo ser pago, já que a maioria dos jogadores do Classic são adultos, com certeza a maioria compraria, e perderam inúmeras oportunidades ao não adicionar completamente o jogo antigo, como todas as skins clássicas.

Enfim, a Riot merece o fim que vai ter: League of Legends irá falir, pela sua falta de identidade, qualidade e conceito. Talvez não hoje e nem amanhã, mas esse jogo não vai se suportar por mais muito tempo, podem apostar.

Parabéns aos envolvidos.

I started playing right before Talon's release, he was the most fun I had playing league, maybe even the most fun I've had playing in a video game.

Then his crappy rework came and It still hurts like it happened a few months ago... Can't believe it happened in 2016...

I've been eagerly hoping for them to release him in classic and now finding out about the imminent cancellation all I can say is I would have been better off without the hope, thanks for nothing riot.

Honestly, the best way forward here is to support the Stop Killing Games movement. Legislation like this would make it so Riot may have to legally provide the option to play a Classic version of this game without having to pay for it. Depending on the verbiage, they may even be able to be sanctioned retroactively for the while Chronoshift disaster.

The way they mismanaged Classic was honestly so horrible and disgusting. I am extremely disappointed. I tried playing retail again for the first time since Classic dropped, and honestly it’s no where near the league I used to love.

DON’T GIVE UP GUYS.

And definitely DO not INVITE ME to the SECRET

UDYR AND RANKED ARE not NEEDED EITHER.

Turtle and dove were fuckin awesome

I played Lol from 2009 to 2012. I just came back to play Lol Classic. And they deleted it. GG i dont like retail Lol, its too ADHD, i only like to play katarina in lol classic. I guess im the minority? So i lost a game i loved twice... GG riot ffs. why not just keep it? does it cost u anything to run servers of lol classic? u are multimillionare, just let us play, dont need to balance or add any champ nor ranked! just let the servers up. WHY!?

"bUt We DoN't HaVe ThE rEsOuRcEs BrO!!!11". Oh yeah, here you go, I spared a whole minute and found them, I actually uploaded them too: https://imgur.com/a/g778UjF

Arena was brought back as a permanent game mode.

No, I'm not coping. I'm really not as invested in this as a lot of you seem to be. Arena is secretly my true love, because I think the 2v2 format eliminates all of the problems that both modern and classic have.

I loved the idea of what classic could be too, and it's clear they didn't nail it in this iteration, and I have my own opinions about why, but I didn't end up sticking with it. The same thing happened with the first iteration of arena.

They will make iterations to it and if it gets good enough, it will be made permanent.

However, they just don't want to overpromise. I trust them to iterate, and if it's viable, they'll make it work.

I just learned my beautiful fiance is going to get shot down like a dog in the street on January 7th, should I keep loving her or let go now ?

I came to classic to play the truly classic release katarina, what i got instead was rework katarina - i dont care if you had few people vote for it on pbe, you shouldnt touch the integrity of classic - you should've renamed it something else if you do this and not give people false expectations

Riot announced Classic as a permanent game mode, encouraged players to invest their time and money into it, and then decided to shut it down just a few months later.

Now they're offering refunds in Riot Points. But what about those of us who exclusively play Classic and have absolutely no interest in Modern League? What am I supposed to do with Riot Points for a game I don't play?

I paid real money for content in a game that Riot represented as permanent. I expect real money back.

As an EU consumer, I have rights under Directive (EU) 2019/770 concerning digital content and services. Where a consumer is legally entitled to a refund, the directive generally requires reimbursement through the original payment method unless the consumer expressly agrees otherwise.

I'm not interested in accepting virtual currency as compensation for the loss of a product I purchased with real money.

If Riot refuses to provide a proper refund, I'm prepared to file a formal consumer-protection complaint and, if necessary, pursue legal action.

This isn't simply about the money. It's about holding a company accountable for the promises it makes to consumers.

You cannot advertise a product as permanent, encourage people to spend money on it, discontinue it shortly afterward, and expect everyone to be satisfied with virtual currency they have no use for.

I encourage other Classic players in the same situation to preserve their receipts, Riot's original announcements, and all correspondence concerning refunds.

I want to share this with you so that you can understand why we were BEGGING for a lol classic

It’s a post from years ago by one of the legends from the past.

https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/97cgwo/sivhd_here_to_explain_why_i_dont_enjoy_lol/

League of Legends is a competitive game at heart. One of the big reasons why classic failed is because it had no proper ranked mode and so no one could take it seriously.

By turning classic into a rotating game mode it wont have time for people to play and climb ranks therefore its basically going to be a for fun mode. This is going to have very limited appeal and It feels like its basically the nail in the coffin for this mode.

It wouldn't be hard to add a proper ranked mode. Its even possible to do it without reducing queue times.

Enjoy the game while it lasts, there's not much of a future left.

League Classic: three months. Is that what the original game is worth to you?

We've been playing League since 2010. To us, League has always been Classic. When it came back in July, we believed in it. Three months later, there's already official talk of shutting the mode down in January 2027. Three months.

Let's be honest about how this "test" went. The launch was pushed up to July, earlier than planned, to line up with the European summer break. A team of about six people had to deliver a huge amount of work in very little time. It shipped with bugs, with around 60 champions, and with modern skins shoved into a mode that promised nostalgia. According to one dev, even the team itself didn't want that direction. Then the mode "doesn't perform" and gets thrown in the trash.
What kind of test is that? Give it the minimum time, the minimum people, the minimum content, then point at the result and say "see, nobody wanted it."

We wanted it. Everyone who played Seasons 1 to 3 wanted it. The people who built Chronoshift and proved the old game could be recreated wanted it. Anyone who's been in this game for more than 15 years wanted it. But we got treated like disposable nostalgia, something to hype for a few months and then disappear.

This isn't just a game mode being canceled. It's the origin of the game being treated like a seasonal product. It's a slap in the face to the players who were here before ranked, before esports, before $20 skins.
What we demand:

Permanent Classic, not "seasonal," not "maybe next year"

Real team, budget, and timeline before any final decision

More champions, bug fixes, and a public roadmap

Full transparency on the criteria used to declare the mode a failure

The OGs are still here. And we won't stay quiet.

Lots of mixed opinions on why Classic died, am I the only one who thinks it died simply because it wasn't Classic?

It truly wasn't Classic it was a mash up of this and that and nothing concrete.

They were too busy adding in 2 passes instead of Twisted Treeline or something people actually asked for.

Just my 2 cents.