Nearly 13 years after its original release, League of Legends remains one of the most popular games in the world, with millions playing every month. That is mostly down to new champions, with the Riot Games MOBA regularly getting new characters.
Every few months, Riot teases the release of a new League character coming to the game. Each champion has various abilities and is intended to be played in specific roles around the Summoner’s Rift map, as well as in limited-time modes like Nexus Blitz and more recently the extremely popular League Arena. The devs also issue “reworks” for champs who have aged poorly, updating their visuals and abilities to modernize them.
At launch, League only had 40 champions, many of which have since changed quite a lot. Back then, Riot would release champions on a very frequent schedule, quickly leading to a surplus of unique characters to play.
How many champions are there in League?
There are now 166 different champions in League, despite Riot gradually slowing down the character release schedule to around five a year.
This gradual drip when it comes to new Rift debuts should continue through 2024 as well, so we can likely expect to hit the 170 mark by the time the end of this next League season wraps up. Then, if things stay on the same path throughout the 2020s, the game’s ballooning roster could boast 200 unique characters by around 2029.
Which champs came out recently?
The three most recent League champions added to the MOBA’s expansive roster were Hwei the Visionary (December 2023), Briar the Restrained Hunger (September 2023), and Naafiri the Hound of a Hundred Bites (July 2023).
Each has brought something new to the League experience, ranging from Naafiri summoning a horde of dog allies to battle, or Hwei having a dozen abilities to use instead of the usual three to four.
The 2023 League season was actually one of the quieter years when it came to new debuts too. On top of the three listed above, only Milio the Gentle Flame landed on the Rift. The 12 months before was a little busier, with K’Sante, Nilah, Bel’Veth, Renata Glasc, and ever-powerful AD carry Zeri all arriving from January to December.
This article will be updated as new League champions are released.
