You Asked, It's Back: League of Legends Winter Map Returns After Seven Snowless Years
Fan demand wins—Riot brings back the Winter map in 2025, even as it admits its tech and tools still need work.
League finally caved. After vanishing since 2018, the Winter version of Summoner's Rift is coming back in 2025. Took them long enough.
How they announced it (and yes, it was goofy)
Executive producer Paul Bellezza revealed it in a quick video while literally making a snow angel. He owned the long drought since the last Snowdown and blamed it on behind-the-scenes headaches, dropping this line:
"our tech and tools need some work."
He also pointed out the obvious seasonal mismatch — it's only Winter up north (and, technically, still fall right now), while the Southern hemisphere is in Summer — and then basically said they were doing it anyway because players would not let it go. Direct quote:
"Because you really asked for it, we're just gonna do it anyway. Winter map is coming back, everyone."
What to expect and when
The festive Summoner's Rift arrives with patch 25.23, scheduled for November 19, 2025. Beyond the map itself, details are still fuzzy. In the past, Snowdown came with holiday skins, limited-time modes, and seasonal rewards. Riot has not confirmed any of that yet this time around, so treat those as maybes, not promises.
The look
From the footage, the map is getting the full holiday dress-up: lights, snowmen, wrapped presents, candy canes, snow globes, and yes, a certain three-headed monster looking very seasonal. It is exactly the kind of cheerful chaos you remember.
Quick hits
- Last Winter/Snowdown map: 2018. It has been a minute.
- Reason for the long gap: internal tech and tooling issues, per Bellezza.
- Hemispheres note: Riot knows it's Summer down south and not quite Winter up north, but the map is coming anyway.
- Return date: patch 25.23 on November 19, 2025.
- Possible extras: historically included holiday skins, LTMs, and rewards, but nothing confirmed for 2025 yet.
Bottom line: the Winter Rift is officially back on the calendar. If you have been itching to throw down in a blizzard with candy canes and snow globes everywhere, November 19 is your day.