League of Legends players will sleep well in the coming months, with the announcement that lead designer Riot August is taking a sabbatical until next year.
Riot August is an infamous League balance developer who’s responsible for many of the game’s nerfs—but we might get a bit of a break for a while as, on Aug. 26, the dev announced on X that he is taking a sabbatical and won’t return to work until 2025.
“I’m taking a sabbatical! This will be the first long break from work or school I’ve had in 15 years,” August wrote. “Sadly, this means I won’t be around to pitch nerfs for your favorite champ until next year,” he continued, in a tongue-in-cheek nod to his reputation for nerfing League champions.
August says he will potentially set up a YouTube channel about game design during his sabbatical, but otherwise, it sounds like he plans to relax.
The community believes a break is much-deserved for August, who’s been a main designer behind League for years and also focused heavily on shipping Swarm over the last year. “He deserves it, and I hope he enjoys his time off. I know August has been ill lately and stressed out after working so hard on Swarm,” one of the top comments on an Aug. 26 Reddit thread reads.
August is one of the two most well-known League developers alongside Phreak. They often comment on the changes behind each patch, with August mostly focusing on nerfs. His absence will surely be felt by the League community, but likely won’t affect the game’s updates.
