The video game industry has been transforming, with live service experiences gaining prominence as players seek immersive, long-lasting worlds. With a continuous sequence of updates, these titles are able to maintain their relevance for many years, moving away from the traditional “once and done” experience that has dominated the industry for decades. This constant engagement model creates a loyal community and delivers a stream of content that combats obsolescence.
Updates are the fundamental foundation of the live-service format, essential to sustain player engagement, ensure fairness among all and correct flaws that could compromise gameplay. Many players dedicate thousands of hours to these universes, demanding that the games always remain up-to-date and interesting, both for beginners and veterans.
For the League of Legends universe, this commitment translates into balance updates released periodically. They include power adjustments, with improvements (buffs) and weakenings (nerfs) for champions, items and systems, aiming to balance characters that are performing above or below expectations in their respective roles.
These modifications are implemented through patches that arrive every two weeks. The patch notes, released by Riot Games, provide detailed context on the changes and additions, establishing an effective form of communication between the developer and its player base.
The same release cadence applies to updates for League of Legends’ permanent game modes. This group currently includes ARAM, Arena, and ARAM: Mayhem. Each receives individual tweaks to ensure gameplay remains fair, even for the most casual gamers.
Generally, changes to these modes are not drastic, but consist of fixed percentage adjustments to specific elements, areas, or augments. For example, instead of increasing or decreasing the damage of individual abilities, a champion can have a percentage change in the damage of their entire kit, which makes the modifications easier for game mode players to understand.
In ARAM, this information is displayed to “summoners” through a special buff, exclusive to casual modes. Each of the statistics is detailed in detail, keeping players aware of adjustments made to their characters, a valuable feature for those looking to take the more relaxed modes seriously.
Additionally, there are hotfixes, released when something is introduced into the game and has serious flaws. Historically, this occurs with the release of new League of Legends champions, as new characters tend to be released a little unbalanced after leaving the public test environment. A quick hotfix can be applied to adjust numbers and keep the gaming experience balanced.
More intricate are the major season and act updates that League of Legends implements, following the MOBA’s new tri-seasonal approach. Annually, the game is divided into three seasons, and each season is made up of two acts.
These periods do not have fixed durations or schedules. For example, in Season 2 of 2026, titled Pandemonium, there was a shorter period than the others, making room for a longer season at the end of the year. This demonstrates that there is no strict rule to follow.
The first season of each year usually brings major gameplay changes that redefine the game’s meta. Subsequent seasons and acts, in turn, introduce smaller adjustments in line with the seasonal theme. This complex system aims to keep the game interesting and captivate players, encouraging their return and continued engagement, even if a specific season has been challenging for their favorite champions or routes.
