All League of Legends Seasons: List & Dates (2010–2026)

League of Legends launched its first ranked season on July 13, 2010, and Riot has shipped 20 distinct ranked seasons since — from the year-long classics through the modern themed era that kicked off in 2025. League of Legends’ current cycle is Pandemonium - Act II, continuing the demon-themed Season 2 arc on the 2026 acts model. This is the complete record of every League of Legends season since launch, with exact start dates, end dates, durations, and the structural shifts most other lists gloss over.

Total Seasons

20 (19 completed + 1 open)

Shortest

Pandemonium - Act I · 41 days

Longest

Season 2023 · 363 days

Era Average

Classic ~290d · Themed ~105d · Acts ~55d

Current

Pandemonium Act II · timer →

Quick answer: League of Legends has run for 20 ranked seasons — 14 numbered annual seasons from S1 (2010) through Season 2024, plus the new themed era starting in 2025 (Welcome to Noxus, Spirit Blossom Beyond, Trials of Twilight) and continuing through 2026 (For Demacia, Pandemonium). The current League of Legends season timer carries the live estimate and confirmation status; this article keeps the completed-season record stable.

How League of Legends Seasons Work

A League of Legends season is the ranked cycle Riot uses to gate end-of-season Victorious skins, honor rewards, and the competitive ladder reset. For the first 14 seasons (2010–2024), Riot ran a single ranked season per calendar year — typically January through November, with a short preseason filling the gap. The format was simple: one ladder, one reset, one Victorious skin.

That model changed in 2025, when Riot restructured the year into three themed seasons, each with its own narrative arc, Battle Pass, map theme, and Victorious skin reward. The single annual ranked ladder was retained underneath, but seasonal content and reset timing now cycle roughly every four months instead of once a year.

In 2026, Riot pushed the model one step further by splitting each themed season into two acts, each tied to a Battle Pass cycle of six to eight patches. The 2026 ranked year is divided into three themed seasons — For Demacia (Acts I–II, January–April), Pandemonium (Acts I–II, April–August), and a third themed season launching in late August — with the overall 2026 ranked ladder closing on January 8, 2027.

All League of Legends Seasons — Complete Timeline

Below is every League of Legends season since the 2010 launch, sorted newest to oldest. Dates reflect the official Riot launch and end timestamps; the 2020-onward dates are normalized to UTC for cross-region accuracy.

2026 — The Themed Era With Acts

The 2026 ranked year landed with the For Demacia Demacian-storyline arc, which split cleanly into two ~55-day acts. Pandemonium followed on April 29 with Act I running six patches (shorter than the standard eight), and Act II launched June 10, 2026. A third 2026 themed season is scheduled for late August; the current League of Legends season timer tracks Act II’s close.

2025 — The First Themed Year

2025 subtotal: 3 themed seasons across 335 days, averaging 111.7 days per season. Welcome to Noxus opened the themed era with the Noxian invasion arc and the first Riot-published season Battle Pass. Trials of Twilight ran 134 days because it had to bridge the gap into the 2026 ranked year, making it the longest themed season to date.

2020–2024 — The Modern Numbered Era (S10–S14)

2020–2024 subtotal: 5 seasons across 1,652 days, averaging 330 days per season. Season 2023 (363 days) is the longest single ranked season in League history — Riot extended it specifically to align the calendar with the new mid-season cadence ahead of the 2025 themed restructure. Season 2022 was the last to use the strict January-to-November cycle without overlap.

2010–2019 — The Classic Era (S1–S9)

The classic numbered era settled into a predictable rhythm from S3 onward: launch in mid-January, end in early November, run a 6-to-8 week preseason, repeat. Season 1 was the only season to start in summer — Riot built the original ranked system from scratch during 2010 and only locked the November-to-January cycle starting with Season 2. Season 7 kicked off in December 2016 rather than January, the only mid-cycle shift in the classic era.

Records and Stats

Longest seasons

The five longest ranked seasons in League of Legends history all belong to the pre-2025 era, when a single ladder ran for most of the calendar year.

Shortest cycles

The themed era has produced every short-cycle record. Pandemonium - Act I at 41 days is the shortest ranked cycle Riot has shipped, ahead of For Demacia - Act I at 55 days. Those counts only cover Battle Pass progression — the underlying 2026 ranked ladder runs through January 2027.

Average duration by era

How the season model has evolved

Riot has compressed the seasonal cadence by an order of magnitude in 12 months. The classic and modern numbered eras averaged 290–330 days per season; the 2025 themed year cut that to about 112 days; and 2026’s act split shrank the Battle Pass cycle to roughly 55 days. The annual ranked ladder still runs for a full year — the headline change is that Victorious-skin and Battle Pass deadlines now arrive five or six times per year instead of once.

What Happens When a League of Legends Season Ends

Three things rotate at every act and season boundary, and the impact depends on which kind of transition is hitting.

Battle Pass deadline. Each act in 2026 ships its own Battle Pass, and unclaimed tiers expire when the next act goes live — that’s what happened when the Pandemonium - Act I Battle Pass closed at 06:59 UTC on June 9, 2026. Purchased and earned cosmetics remain on your account permanently regardless.

Ranked checkpoint reset. League’s ranked system does not fully reset between acts — your rank tier and LP are preserved at act transitions. What does reset is the act checkpoint, the progress icon displayed on your profile. End-of-act rewards are based on the highest rank you reached during that act, which is why ranked climbers treat each act as a fresh sprint.

Full ranked reset. A full ladder reset (soft, with placement matches) only happens once per ranked year — currently at the start of each themed-era January cycle. The 2026 ranked year ends January 8, 2027 when the 2027 ladder opens. Victorious skins are awarded based on the highest rank achieved during the year.

For the live act transition timer, see the League of Legends countdown. For other Riot games on the same cadence, the Valorant act countdown tracks the parallel two-month structure that inspired LoL’s 2026 act split, and the Teamfight Tactics season timer covers Riot’s set-rotation model on the same client. For a comparable rebrand-and-act story, the Overwatch 2 season history shows how Blizzard restructured its seasonal model during the same window. More breakdowns live on the SeasonTimer blog.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many League of Legends seasons have there been?

There have been 20 League of Legends seasons since the 2010 launch — 14 numbered annual ranked seasons (S1 through Season 2024), 3 themed seasons in 2025 (Welcome to Noxus, Spirit Blossom Beyond, Trials of Twilight), and 2 themed seasons in 2026 so far (For Demacia and Pandemonium, now in Act II). The open interval is shown in the table and tracked on the League of Legends timer.

How long do League of Legends seasons last?

The cadence depends on the era. The classic and modern numbered seasons (S1–S14) averaged 290–330 days each. The 2025 themed year averaged 111.7 days per season. The 2026 act split runs roughly 55 days per act, with two acts per themed season.

What was the longest League of Legends season ever?

Season 2023 (S13) holds the record at 363 days, running from January 11, 2023 to January 9, 2024. Riot deliberately extended it to align the calendar with the new mid-season cadence ahead of the 2025 themed restructure.

What was the shortest League of Legends season ever?

The Pandemonium - Act I cycle at 41 days is the shortest Battle Pass act Riot has shipped to date — shorter than For Demacia - Act I at 55 days. Among full themed seasons, Welcome to Noxus at 96 days holds the short record. Among classic numbered seasons, none ran under 290 days.

Does League of Legends LP reset between acts?

No. LP and rank tier are preserved at act transitions — only the act checkpoint icon resets to zero. The full soft reset, with placement matches, happens once per ranked year at the January transition. The 2026 ranked year closes January 8, 2027.

Data sourced from Riot Games’ official patch notes, season announcements, and the League of Legends Support knowledge base, cross-referenced with our season records. Last updated July 17, 2026.