On January 4, 2026, many League of Legends players couldn’t access the game for several hours due to a problem with its security certificate. This prevented them from logging in.
I was really excited to jump into the game today, but I kept getting errors when I tried to start it up or connect to the servers. It looks like a lot of other players are having the same problem – social media is full of people reporting issues with secure connections. It’s super frustrating!
Riot Games announced on League of Legends’ X (formerly Twitter) that they know about a problem causing login issues and affecting gameplay for some players.
Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know we’re on top of a problem that’s stopping some players from getting into the game. It’s also affecting ranked queues, so we’ve had to temporarily turn those off while we work on a fix. Really appreciate your patience while we get this sorted out!
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) January 4, 2026
SSL certificate lapse echoes a decade-old outage
League of Legends has experienced SSL certificate issues before. Back in early 2016, an expired certificate caused players to be unable to log in and access Riot’s services, creating a lot of problems and confusion.
As a regular internet user, I’ve come to understand that an SSL certificate is basically a way to keep my information safe online. It creates a secure, encrypted connection between my computer and the website I’m visiting, so things like my usernames, passwords, and other personal details are protected from being intercepted. It’s like a secret code that keeps everything private!
If these security certificates become outdated or aren’t updated, programs that need a secure connection might not work. This is why games like League of Legends can suddenly stop functioning when the certificate expires.
In 2016, after a service disruption, a senior software engineer at Riot Games explained on Reddit that the issue was caused by an expired security certificate that was supposed to automatically renew.
We’ve identified the issue and are investigating it now. It seems our security certificate didn’t renew automatically as expected for the new year. Happy New Year, everyone!
Players in Europe and North America experienced connection problems, but these issues seem to be fixed now that a necessary certificate has been updated. The new certificate is valid until 2125.
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2026-01-05 19:20