League of Legends: New Dawn to fully change LoL Esports

Naerlyn Published November 15, 2026

Riot finally revealed what League Next will be about. A new client, entirely revamped visuals, an engine change, and most importantly, kit variants. This update will launch early 2027, which will strongly impact the esports scene. Here’s all we know about League of Legends: New Dawn.

League of Legends: New Dawn: Information, leaks, and theories

Here is the information from Riot about the upcoming update.

• League of Legends: New Dawn will bring a fully new client to the game.
• The update will roll out at the start of 2027, with full details being revealed in January.
• LoL will have a complete visual overhaul alongside using a different engine. This includes giving a number of champions visual updates.
• All champions will be modified to now have kit variants. There are also systemic changes, at least to terrains, objectives, and Summoner spells.

Alongside those, there have been several high-confidence leaks about League of Legends: New Dawn. According to them, visual updates will go to every champion and skin. Champions will have three different kit variants, and those will take the place of runes.

From these, there’s a bit more to deduce. The removal of runes makes sense, as it’s something Riot has hinted at for a while. Kit variants are acting like champion-specific runes. The visual updates are putting champions more in line with their recent representations in cinematics and other media.

First Stand: All In will be a new version of the tournament for 2027. Image Credit: Riot Games

How League of Legends: New Dawn will impact LoL Esports

Yesterday, Riot announced that First Stand will have a special edition next year, First Stand: All In.

“First Stand is getting a major expansion in 2027 with First Stand: All In, a one-time event that will bring more teams, more players, and more of our global community together to kick off the competitive season. Taking place in China, First Stand: All In will be the largest tournament we’ve ever produced.”

“This expanded tournament will also impact how Split 1 looks across our regional leagues.”

League of Legends: New Dawn will be a complete overhaul of the game, fully changing how it plays. From the scale of the update and the fact that it is announced to launch early 2027, we can theorize that Split 1 / Winter 2027 will be drastically shortened.

A possibility is that regional competition will run for a handful of weeks to eliminate only a few teams. This would go right after the release of New Dawn. Then, most teams from each region participate in First Stand: All In, with a much more lenient qualifier than any international to date.

Featured Image Credit: Riot Games