Polygon.com / 02.02.25

Riot explains why Arcane erased a League of Legends champion

League of Legends is over 15 years old. The game is nearly old enough to drive or vote, and its developers at Riot Games havent been shy about applying retcons or reworks to champions or other aspects of the game as needed. Even longtime players can find themselves surprised by these overhauls. For instance, one champion was in the game for 11 years before he was suddenly replaced with someone completely new, but with the same name. The new Viktor has been taken from Arcane, which is much less confusing to new players but what happens to longtime fans of a champion when their beloved main character gets replaced with a better version? If youre an Arcane fan, this is a natural decision that makes sense. If youre a League of Legends veteran, it inspires questions as to the games greater canon. I reached out to Riot to learn more about the process of reinventing Viktor, and how Arcanes new lore fits into the greater League library. Polygon: How did the new Viktor come about? Was this a c...
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