League of Legends may have accidentally revealed their next champion in an April Fools’ joke

Damacian rogue Locke has been unwittingly revealed as the next champion set to be added to League of Legends after a Riot Games staffer confirmed the release via an April Fools’ joke.

In a now-deleted post by League of Legends game director Pu ‘Pupulasers’ Liu, Locke was unveiled as League’s latest character.

“Some players believe that League of Legends has too many champions. Turns out they’re absolutely right, and 172 is the maximum number of champions we can have in League. When Locke releases, one champion will be deleted from League forever.”

Locke, a character previously revealed during a leaked 2026 online motion comic, looks set to join the Rift later this year.

Locke confirmed as the next League of Legends champion in April Fools’ post

Locke was unveiled in a motion comic entitled For the Fallen which featured Garen and a then-unnamed character. Locke is a Damacian, who appeared hooded and shrouded in mystery during his appearance in that comic, very little is known about the Champion.

It’s speculated that he could be a Jungler, or mid assassin, but with little additional information, this is only speculation.

Earlier this year it was also confirmed that League of Legends will only see a single Champion release this year, down from an average of about three a season. Timing on the release is currently unconfirmed, but has been stated to be somewhere in the middle of the year, according to statements by Riot leads.

As mentioned, League of Legends boasts 172 champions at the time of writing, but with dramatic reworks (such as the recent one to Shyvana) the number of ‘new’ champions can seem overwhelming.

The shift to just a single Champion could be Riot’s way of reducing the ‘brain-drain’ of learning so many characters for new players.