League of Legends mass texture update brings new hotness to old champions

League of Legends has held up pretty well over the years, but it's getting a little long in the tooth. So with the Summoner's Rift update working its way through the Public Beta Environment, Riot has decided that it's time to slap a fresh coat of paint on its older champions and skins.

It's a big job, obviously, and so it's not going to happen all at once, but eventually the update will cover just about every champion and skin released prior to 2013. The updated textures will stick with a "visual hierarchy" that's part of the overall Summoner's Rift update, which aims to focus attention on key areas like characters' heads and weapons. "At the highest level, we want to ensure that everything looks consistent," the studio wrote , "and that the art always adds to, rather than detracts, from gameplay."

Riot also noted that the texture updates won't have any impact on the releases of the Champions Updates. The first batch is expected to roll out on the PBE at 10 PDT tomorrow, and the job is planned to be complete by the time the Summoner's Rift update goes live.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.