League of Legends’ Next Patch Will Release a Week Later than Usual

If you’ve been actively playing League of Legends for a while now, you’ve probably grown accustomed to patch cycle the game typically follows. For those who aren’t, possibly because you just joined in through Teamfight Tactics which released in the last update, the patches usually roll out every two weeks. That schedule would see League’s Patch 9.14 – the one that has a ranked mode for Teamfight Tactics – out on July 10th, but that won’t be case this time. This patch will be one of Riot Games‘ three-week cycles which means the update will instead release on July 17th.

There have been mentions of the patch dropping a week later than usual throughout Twitter and other places where Rioters are active, but you can find the decisive word on the release timing of the next update by visiting Riot’s support site where the patch schedule is found. Rioter Ed “SapMagic” Altorfer who’s serving as the UX lead for Teamfight Tactics brought attention to the support site and said the next update will be out on July 17th, not July 10th.

Patches can take longer for a number of reasons, and while Altorfer didn’t mention anything specifically, the fact that this next patch needs extra time to cook is probably due to how much it consists of. It’s introducing the normal array of balance changes for champions like Pyke, Swain, Tahm Kench, and other champions who have been worked on recently. It also has the new Demacia Vice skins, one each for Garen and Lucian. Topping off the changes that players will see in Summoner’s Rift and other traditional modes is the release of the Death Recap update, a feature that’ll finally be getting a fresh, helpful look in Patch 9.14.

But even with all those features considered, the most notable part of the next update that players are most likely looking forward to is the ranked mode for Teamfight Tactics. The alternate game mode only has the one normal mode playable at the moment which makes sense given how new it still is, but the next patch will give players a way to employ their practiced strategies in a more competitive environment.

As is the case with some League features though, the ranked mode isn’t guaranteed to be released right alongside the update. The Rioter mentioned in the tweet above that “Ranked will follow at some point during the patch,” so don’t be surprised if it’s not released on day one.