League Of Legends Reveals First New Champion Of Six Planned For 2021

As 2021 kicks off in earnest, Riot Games has started to reveal its roadmap for League of Legends throughout the year. The plan for the 2021 season aims to add six new champions, the first of which has been revealed as jungler Viego the Ruined King.

In a video laying out Riot's champion-related plans for 2021, Ryan "Reav3" Mireles said that new champions for the year will follow a similar plan to 2020's releases, with Riot planning to release one new character for every lane position throughout the year, and two for mid lane.

"We believe that players shouldn't have to go longer than a year without getting a new champion to try in their role," Reav3 explained. While the video specifically mentions four confirmed champions tied to the Ruined King, 2021 will get six new character if Riot matches its 2020 champion output as promised.

First up is Viego The Ruined King, a character who has existed in League of Legends lore for as long as the game has existed, and is now finally getting his moment as a playable character. Viego will play as a jungler, with abilities including a camouflaging mist and a passive that lets the Ruined King possess downed enemies.

Viego is also the main antagonist in the upcoming RPG spin-off Ruined King: A League of Legends Story, which is set to launch in early 2021. The next three champions to be released will also tie into the Ruined King story lore-wise. While the champion update video drops some hints about the new characters, more details have yet to be confirmed--though Reav3 says hints on the next champion after Viego will be hidden in the Ruined King game itself.

Viego is live now on the PBE for testing, while players in the main game will get their hands on him by the end of the month.