Millions of League of Legends players log in each month, but a recurring frustration continues to plague users worldwide: lengthy updates. Why do they take so long—and what can players do about it?
For a game that’s been around since 2009, League of Legends (LoL) has shown remarkable staying power. Frequent patches, champion updates, and bug fixes keep the game fresh—but they also mean frequent downloads. And while most updates are relatively quick, some players find themselves stuck watching a loading bar for what feels like eternity.
The Tech Behind the Patch
League of Legends updates aren’t just simple downloads; they involve a process known as patching. Instead of replacing the entire game file, Riot Games sends only the changes, which your system then applies to existing files. This method is efficient in theory, but the patching process can be affected by a variety of factors.
Mechanical hard drives (HDDs). League’s patching process is significantly slower on an HDD compared to a solid-state drive (SSD), which can read and write data up to 10 times faster.
The Bottlenecks You Can Control
Aside from hardware, there are a number of player-side issues that can stall an update:
- Slow or unstable internet connections: Even if the patch size is only a few hundred megabytes, a poor connection can cause delays, timeouts, or corrupted files that require re-downloading.
- Running League on outdated or fragmented drives: Old drives can take longer to process patch data. Riot’s patcher also struggles with fragmented files, common on HDDs that haven’t been optimized.
- Background applications: Antivirus software, torrent clients, or even cloud sync tools like OneDrive can interfere with the patching process, either by locking files or hogging bandwidth.
- Server load: Riot’s servers, especially during major patch days or preseason updates, can become overwhelmed with traffic. When that happens, download speeds may drop across the board.
Tips to Speed Things Up
If you’re stuck staring at a slow patch progress bar, here are some quick fixes:
- Install League on an SSD: This one change can dramatically reduce patch times.
- Pause unnecessary apps: Close bandwidth-heavy or disk-intensive programs before updating.
- Temporarily disable antivirus: Some security software can interfere with Riot’s patcher. Just don’t forget to turn it back on afterward.
- Use a wired connection: Wi-Fi instability is a common but overlooked cause of slow downloads.
- Run the client as administrator: Right-click the League shortcut and choose “Run as administrator” to avoid permission-related issues.
Final Thoughts
While slow updates can be maddening—especially when you’re racing to join friends in ranked queue—the issue is rarely caused by Riot alone. A mix of hardware, software, and network conditions typically lies at the root. By understanding how League’s patching system works and optimizing your own setup, you can turn long waits into mere moments.
After all, the only thing more frustrating than a long update is missing your promo match because of it.
Written by:
Christian