Riot Games has confirmed that the festive Winter version of Summoner’s Rift will return in 2025, with the seasonal map scheduled to arrive in patch 25.23 on November 19. The reveal came via a short studio video in which League executive producer Paul Bellezza teases the comeback while making a snow angel and admits the long absence was partly down to tooling and tech.
In the clip, Bellezza says, “Because you really asked for it, we’re just gonna do it anyway. Winter map is coming back, everyone.” He also noted that seasonal timing can be messy given the planet, since the Northern Hemisphere winter and Southern Hemisphere summer don’t line up. The studio’s tone was light and a bit self-aware about the wait since the last Snowdown run in 2018.
Details about the event are still sparse. Riot’s video shows a familiar holiday makeover on the map, lights, wrapped presents, snowmen, and the like, and past Snowdown events often included limited-time skins, event rewards, and themed missions. The current plan is for the Winter map and accompanying festivities to be available when 25.23 goes live on November 19, 2025.
If you want context on the live patch cycle and Riot’s recent changes to jungle and timers, see our recent coverage of patch 25.17 and the developers’ follow-ups here.
Expect Riot to publish full patch notes and event specifics closer to the November patch. For now, the message is simple, friendly, and a little sheepish: the Winter map is back because players never really stopped asking for it. If you’ve got opinions about how Snowdown should feel in 2025, this is the time to make them heard.
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