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Riot Games
Facts
- Announced
- a plan to block other players' replays entirely, citing security, in the October 7 update · 2026-10-22
- Announced
- patch 26.20 for League of Legends · 2026-10-07
- Announced
- active development of 2XKO will end at the end of 2026 · 2026-08-20
- Announced
- revamped Vanguard anti-cheat system · 2026-08-06
- Noted
- Riot published a Japanese-language account of how its Vanguard Anti-Boost system detects smurfing · 2026-10-06
- Noted
- The system has led to action against 296,416 accounts · 2026-10-06
- Noted
- Riot says about 9% of accounts playing ranked matches on a given day are sub-accounts · 2026-10-06
- Noted
- More than half of the sub-accounts playing ranked matches on a given day are harmless · 2026-10-06
- Noted
- Riot positions community as "strategy" itself · 2026-09-17
- Noted
- Riot Games laid off about 80 developers in February · 2026-08-20
- Noted
- Vanguard was updated at the end of June 2026 · 2026-08-06
- Noted
- Vanguard now runs only while a game is active instead of staying resident on Windows · 2026-08-06
- Noted
- requires Windows 11 25H2 or later and properly configured Windows Security with virtualization-based security and Secure Boot enabled · 2026-08-06
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- Confirmed patch 26.20 for League of Legends Oct 7 · source
All coverage
1d ago
JELLY JELLY GAMES announced on October 23, 2026 that it will publish a Japanese edition of Mechs vs. Minions in 2027. The cooperative board game, set in the League of Legends world, has 2 to 4 players programming mech actions with cards across 10 missions of about 60 to 90 minutes each. Riot Games released the original in 2016; it went out of print in 2020, and a reprint was set for its 10th anniversary through a licensing deal with Incredible Dream Studios. Title and price are undecided.
2d ago
Riot Games shipped League of Legends patch 26.21 on October 21. The patch caps replay downloads at 10 per hour, replacing an earlier plan that would have blocked other players' replays entirely. Riot had announced that block in the October 7 update and said at the time it was for security. Criticism from players and pro teams, who study other squads' replays, followed, and the change was postponed to this patch.
5d ago
The CGWORLD 2026 Creative Conference runs December 6 at Ariake Central Tower Hall & Conference in Tokyo, free with advance registration. Animator and character designer Hanabushi drew the key visual under the theme "Creators connect. Beyond that." The first session round includes Framestore on its VFX work for "Project Hail Mary," Riot Games and Agora Community on facial animation, Whatever Co. on the Kao horror game "Shizukana Osouji," and Universal Entertainment on amusement machine video made with Unreal Engine.
6d ago
Riot Games revealed Hush, a new Duelist for tactical shooter Valorant, on October 18 at the Grand Final of Valorant Champions Shanghai. Hush is described as a Duelist from China with long pink hair and is counted as the game's 30th agent. The agent joins the roster on October 27, local time. A trailer titled "Fall into the void!" shows the character moving quickly over short distances, curving the path of thrown grenades, and pulling enemies toward a single point. A separate short video on the official YouTube channel details her abilities: Telekinesis pulls weapons and the Spike to her from a distance and works switches from farther away than usual; Displacement and Flashbulb can be curved with the crosshair after being thrown, the first pulling enemies in its blast radius and the second blinding with a flash; Flow draws her toward a placed anchor at high speed; and the ultimate, Suspension, throws a controllable orb that makes all players in its area float when it detonates.
Oct 15
Riot Games announced on October 15 that League of Legends Classic will end once at the close of Season 3, making the mode unplayable in January 2027. The company cited a decline in users, with most players returning to the current League of Legends. Riot says it aims to bring the mode back later as a limited-time event with adjustments.
Oct 12
A Reddit user says a used Ryzen 7 5800X3D bought on Kleinanzeigen on September 21, 2026, left them unable to play VALORANT, claiming Riot support told them the chip was on Vanguard's ban list over the previous owner's cheating. Riot anticheat lead Phillip Koskinas said he could not find the ticket and that hardware bans last four months at most.
Oct 7
Riot Games released patch 26.20 for League of Legends on October 7, the last adjustment before Worlds. The patch applies champion buffs and nerfs and item adjustments, and it also restricts replay access so players can only open replays of matches they played themselves. Third-party apps and sites lose replay downloads. Riot cites security vulnerabilities and third-party abuse of game memory, and says data acquisition is now limited to the official API.
Oct 6
Riot Games published a Japanese-language account of how its Vanguard Anti-Boost system detects smurfing in VALORANT and League of Legends. The system, introduced to League of Legends in September 2025 and to VALORANT in July 2026, has led to action against 296,416 accounts. Riot says about 9% of accounts playing ranked matches on a given day are sub-accounts, and that more than half of those are harmless.
Oct 5
Riot Games announced on September 30, 2026 that its League of Legends virtual hip-hop group True Damage returns with "Know My Name," the official anthem of Worlds 2026. The song is scheduled for worldwide release on October 9 at 10:00 AM Japan time. SOYEON of i-dle returns as Akali, joined by Coco Jones as Senna, Vic Mensa as Ekko, and Sofía Reyes as Qiyana. The group is set to perform at the Worlds 2026 Grand Final opening ceremony at Barclays Center in New York.
Oct 5
Marc Merrill said 2XKO would have needed hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of monthly active users to keep its live service running. He cited the inability to secure enough players, a team he described as too large, and high costs. Development ends in December 2026, after the game launched in January 2026 and the team was scaled down that February.
Sep 17
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy gave a keynote at Tokyo Game Show 2026 on September 17, presenting the platform as a live streaming service built around community rather than an algorithm-driven feed. He said viewers average 72 minutes on Twitch, and that among 500 surveyed Generation Z viewers in Japan, live content is favored over on-demand. Clancy also said two-thirds of Twitch users report they can be their true selves on the platform, a rate more than double that of other social media in Twitch's comparison. Riot Games' Whalen Rozelle joined the second half of the session, saying Riot's publishing division treats community as strategy itself and that players who feel belonging become co-creators. Rozelle described streamers as today's broadcasters and said more than half of VALORANT esports fans watch through creators. Clancy cited VALORANT Champions 2025 at 47.58 million viewing hours, with 58.4 percent of that from co-streams rather than the official broadcast.
Aug 29
Teamfight Tactics' new set, 'Enchanted Forest,' launched August 26. It introduces the Wisp mechanic, an updated version of the Charm system from set 12, and brings back Draft Rounds. The set features 65 champions, including Ahri, Lux, and Aphelios, plus jungle monsters. Vertical traits like Blossom and Rift Beast anchor the strategy.
Aug 20
Riot Games announced on August 21 that active development of the free-to-play 2v2 fighting game 2XKO will end at the end of 2026. The online servers will continue to operate, and the game will remain playable on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, with offline play unaffected. The company said player retention did not reach a sustainable level, and that operating costs far exceeded revenue, with engagement remaining flat even after major updates. Throughout 2026, Riot Games introduced new champions, the PvE mode The Climb, and competitive events, but these did not change the game's trajectory. The company considered reducing team size, decreasing update frequency, and changing the business model before deciding to complete in-development content and end active development. Updates continue through the year: patch 1.3.1 on September 8 adds champion Lux and unlocks all champions for all players, while patch 1.3.3 in October adds Samira, the final new champion. A December patch focuses on bug fixes. Systems including the battle pass, KO Points, champion tokens, seasons, events, and ranked matches will be removed, with matchmaking consolidated into casual lobbies. Refunds for eligible in-game purchases made by August 20 are planned, with Japan and Korea procedures to be announced later.
Aug 9
Riot Games lead designer Matthew Leung-Harrison responded to the rising mage bot (APC) meta in League of Legends, stating the current situation has gone too far. Instead of nerfing mages, the next patch 26.16 will increase support roam penalties, strengthen ADC items and runes, raise ADC base magic resistance, and buff Heal. The goal is to keep marksmen as the main bot lane class while preserving mage options.
Aug 6
Riot Games published an overview of its revamped Vanguard anti-cheat system, which was updated at the end of June 2026. The key change lets Vanguard run only while a game is active instead of staying resident on Windows, provided the system meets two conditions: Windows 11 25H2 or later, and properly configured Windows Security with virtualization-based security and Secure Boot enabled.
Jul 12
Riot Games will release League of Legends Classic on July 30, letting players experience the game with old systems like Rune Pages and the Revive summoner spell. The mode arrives in patch 26.15 and includes community voting on future updates.
Jun 27
Riot Games announced League of Legends Classic, a new game mode that recreates past versions of the MOBA, on June 27. A trailer shows Executive Director Paul "Pabro" Bellezza suggesting eras like the beta with 40 champions or the time of the Heart of Gold item. Details will come at the MSI finals on July 11.
Jun 24
Riot Games launched VALORANT Season 2026 Act 4 on June 24, adding the new map Summit set in a Chinese mountain radiant training academy. The map features deployable walls that block sightlines and movement for the round. A new 3v3 mode Retake focuses on post-plant scenarios with randomized loadouts. Summit is available in competitive queue immediately with reduced RR loss for losses in the first two weeks, and a Summit-only queue for seven days.
Jun 15
Riot Games announced Teamfight Tactics will migrate from the Hextech engine to Unreal Engine with Set 18 on August 13, 2026, and launch a dedicated client on October 10. The move lifts constraints tied to the League of Legends client, aiming for long-term development. A longer PBE period starts July 15 to address expected bugs.
May 29
Yuya Tegoshi has been appointed support supporter for VALORANT Challengers Japan 2026. His band T.N.T.'s song "RADIANT" will serve as the tournament's cheer song and will be played at the Season Finals on July 25-26, where T.N.T. will also perform. Tegoshi wrote the lyrics, which include references to VALORANT.