Riot Games has broken its silence on
Twisted Treeline,
League’s once-emblematic 3v3 PvP mode. Originally introduced in March 2010, the map remained in the game for nearly a decade before
being retired in November 2019. At the time, Riot
cited low popularity, poor matchmaking, and a design that no longer met their quality bar—the mode hadn’t received a substantial update in seven years by the time it was removed.
Now, while a comeback doesn’t appear imminent, Riot seems to be softening its stance and at least evaluating the possibility of bringing Twisted Treeline back — albeit with significant caveats.
Not yet in the work, but possible?
Unfortunately, much like the long-awaited League MMO, fans of the iconic giant spider deity
Vilemaw may have to wait several more years before seeing their beloved Twisted Treeline return.
“Not working on this right now, but I’ll be honest — we’d like to bring it back someday,” explained
Paul “Pabro” Bellezza, Executive Producer of
League of Legends. Even so,
that statement alone is enough to spark hope among those nostalgic for the Shadow Isles–themed map.
“Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as flipping a switch. Parts of it would need to be rebuilt entirely in today’s League engine. Still, it’s something we’re both excited about and nostalgic for, so maybe,” he concluded — echoing sentiments previously shared by former Rioters.
Indeed, the last time fans received a substantial update on the mode came from
Reina “Reinboom” Sweet, who served as Lead Modes Designer until 2022. Speaking in December 2020, roughly a year after the mode’s removal, she
offered a similar explanation:
“The Crystal Scar (the map for the former 5v5 mode Dominion, which revolved around capturing nodes) and Twisted Treeline were built using an old environment renderer that is no longer in use. Bringing those maps back would require rebuilding them from the ground up. That renderer also can’t simply be restored, as relying on it previously prevented League from upgrading to newer versions of DirectX.”
To drive the point home, Reina
added,
“The Crystal Scar and [Twisted Treeline] are dead. Like so dead. Like omg dead.” With
League Next currently in development and most of the team focused on that massive update coming in 2027, as well as the ongoing overhaul of Summoner’s Rift, the chances of these maps returning anytime soon appear slim. That said, it’s not all doom and gloom — if fan enthusiasm keeps growing, there’s still a possibility Twisted Treeline could see a comeback in late 2027 or 2028, especially following this new statement by
League’s Executive Producer.
Why was it removed to begin with?
First
announced in September 2019 by
Stephen “Mortdog” Mortimer, then Lead Designer of the Modes Team before moving full-time to
Teamfight Tactics,
League’s iconic 3v3 mode faced numerous problems at the time. Added during
League’s early days, Twisted Treeline had a separate ranked queue and seasonal rewards, but received very few updates over the years — aside from a complete rework in 2012 — and spent much of its life in a barely functioning state, until it was ultimately retired.
“TT has always suffered from low queue sizes, even during periods when we added new items, map-specific champion balance, and even the Twisted Treeline redesign waaayy back in 2012. Today (in 2019), it falls short of even the numbers we saw at the end of Nexus Blitz’s second run. This small player base results in long queue times, poor matchmaking, and ultimately an unsatisfying PvP experience for many of the players who do queue up for Treeline.
Beyond the player population, Twisted Treeline’s art, map design, and game pacing no longer meet current quality standards or player expectations. We debated whether ARAM-level support could bring it up to par, but the lack of growth from the previous efforts led us to conclude that it simply wouldn’t be enough to make Treeline a healthy long-term mode.”
This statement, unfortunately, is a familiar one for fans, as similar reasoning was cited for the
removal of Dominion and later limited-time modes like Nexus Blitz and Brawl. If Twisted Treeline were ever to return, it would need to meet specific thresholds to justify ongoing maintenance — thresholds that are far from guaranteed. Even modes like Arena took years to secure long-term status and still aren’t guaranteed to remain indefinitely; its previously announced 12-month runtime is set to expire in June 2026, at which point Riot could reevaluate or extend its support.
