Imagine you’re an English Speaker who lives in South Korea. We understand that you also ardently love League of Legends, so when you finally reinstall the game in South Korea and wish to play, it will definitely take you by surprise if your champion starts yelling in Korean.
Or maybe you’d just have a more engaging gaming experience if you heard Ahri speaking you sweet nothings in Japanese. The bottom line is that if you are wondering how to change the Language in League of Legends, then you have landed on the right article. Find out all the ways, including a method that has a little bit of coding, to change your language settings in League of Legends.
Why You Might Want to Change the Language in League of Legends
Now there are a lot of reasons apart from a language barrier that compel players to change the game language. Some of which are:
Before we get technical, let’s be honest—League in another language just hits differently.
- Immersion: Playing in Japanese, or maybe even Tagalog, might make you have more fun playing the game, especially if you are streaming your game for a specific target audience.
- Better Voice Acting: Some champions, such as Yasuo have a drastically different tone based on the region and language they speak.
- Learning a New Language: An underrated reason why gamers play in different languages is to immersively learn a new language. It is the same as people who binge-watch shows to pick up on colloquial notes and local dialects of a foreign language.
- Aesthetic or Nostalgia: Maybe you grew up playing on a different server and want that original feel back.
If storage space is a concern, it’s also worth understanding How Big is League of Legends’ Size?, since download and update requirements can vary depending on the client and region.
How to Change Language in League of Legends .
Step-by-Step for Riot Client Users
There are a lot of methods for changing language on League of Legends, the easiest way being to use Riot Client. This particularly works great for North America (NA), Europe West (EUW), and Oceania (OCE).
Step 1: Open Riot Client
Launch the Riot Client app, but do not log into your main game just yet. On the main screen, you will find the popular titles such as League of Legends, VALORANT, and others. From here, you need to go to the Settings option.
Step 2: Settings Option
Look for the settings gear icon in the top right corner, and from there you can open the Settings Menu. A sidebar will open, where you need to select League of Legends.
Step 3: Change Language
Now, after you click on the League of Legends option in the settings sidebar, you wil find a bunch of settings specifically related to the game. From hereon, you can change the language and choose one that is for your region through the “Game Language” option in the drop down menu.
For example, if you’re on the North American server, you might see:
- English
- Spanish (Mexico)
- Portuguese (Brazil)
If you’re on a European server, you’ll likely see:
- English (UK)
- French
- German
- Italian
- Polish
Step 4: Hit Save And Restart
Once you have selected your desired language, you can hit Save and Restart the Client. And Bam! You will now see all the menus, tooltips, and voiceovers in your chosen language.
If you have ever wondered how much time you have already invested in the game, you can also explore 4 Ways To Find Out How Much Time Wasted on LOL to better understand your overall League of Legends activity.
How to Change Language in League of Legends Using the Launch Options (Manual Method)
Sometimes Riot limits the languages that are available depending on the region or server from which the player is active. However, fret not, because there is a way around this to still get access to certain languages.
Disclaimer: Before trying out the steps below, remember that this method is a little more advanced and should be practiced with caution. Riot has made changes in recent years that limit this, but it still works in many cases.
Here’s how you can do it:
Step 1: Find Your League Shortcut
- Right-click your League of Legends desktop shortcut.
- Click Properties.
Step 2: Edit the Target Path
You’ll see something like this in the Target box:
“C:\Riot Games\League of Legends\LeagueClient.exe”
At the end of that line, add this command (with the language and region you want):
–locale=ja_JP
or
–locale=ko_KR
So, the final path might look like this:
“C:\Riot Games\League of Legends\LeagueClient.exe” –locale=ja_JP
Click Apply and OK.
Step 3: Launch the Game
Now you use the shortcut to launch LOL, and you should see your client loading up the new language. However, if it doesn’t, that means that Riot has strict restrictions on language in your region. In this case, you will need to reinstall and switch your region officially.
Common Language Codes for League of Legends
| Language | Region | Code |
|---|---|---|
| English (US) | North America | en_US |
| English (UK) | Europe West | en_GB |
| Japanese | Japan | ja_JP |
| Korean | Korea | ko_KR |
| Chinese (Simplified) | China | zh_CN |
| Chinese (Traditional) | Taiwan | zh_TW |
| Spanish (Latin America) | LATAM | es_MX |
| Spanish (Spain) | EU | es_ES |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | BR | pt_BR |
| French | France | fr_FR |
| German | Germany | de_DE |
These codes are what you’ll use in the launch command or in the settings if your client allows it.
If you are also interested in the game’s characters, especially from a player popularity perspective, you may want to explore the Top 10 Most Popular LoL Female Champions, which highlights why certain champions dominate player preferences across different regions and languages.
How to Change Back to English In League Of Legends?
Okay, so after changing the language, you realize that you just wanted the character’s languages to be different and not your whole Riot client setup. Well, you can always just change back to English, because custom language settings are not available for any Riot games at the moment.
Okay, let’s say you’ve gone too far and your client is now yelling at you in Korean, and you can’t find your way back. Don’t panic. Here’s how to revert to English even if you can’t read the menus:
- Open your Riot Client, and find the settings gear icon. It is always on the top-right corner.
- Now choose the League of Legends Icon. The LOL logo is always easy to spot.
- Now, Find the Language Drop Down Menu
- Switch back to English, which is en_US or en_GB.
- Save your options and restart.
Pro Tips and Hidden Tricks
- Use Different Voice Lines, Same Text: Some modders can make the only voice language change possible while keeping the English text settings, thereby getting the best of both worlds. However, this is not an officially supported modification..
- Regional Login Limits: You can always try changing your official Region under the Account Settings on the official website to get access to the language that you want.
- Patch Issues? If your Riot client starts crashing after the language change, then you need to move back to your default locale and re-download the game files.
Why So Many Players Love Japanese or Korean Voice Packs
Have you realized how many players from Western countries listen to champions like Ahri, Yasuo, or Jinx in Japanese? It’s not really “weeb energy,” the Japanese voice for these characters is generally sharper, has more expression or emotion, and can be more dramatic.
Some fans go as far as making their own mixed packs (English UI, Japanese audio), which gives them the “anime experience”, but without having to work through the menus. Riot has never officially allowed for full audio mixing, but maybe someday there will be a toggle for this in a patch.
Final Thoughts
Whether you want to go Korean LCK mode or want an Arcane feel in Japanese, just to maybe see your favourite champions speaking in another tongue, changing the language in League of Legends is a totally refreshing experience that will also hook you back into the game.