Latest Patch Notes in Gaming — Week of June 22–28, 2026
Every week we round up every major game patch, hotfix, and update so you can find the latest patch notes in gaming all in one place. Here's everything that dropped the week of June 22–28, 2026. Click any link to jump straight to the official notes.
Quick Summary
League of Legends — Patch 26.13 with new champion Locke the Ashen Exorcist, Ranked 5s return, last-hit indicators, and broad champion balance
Overwatch — Three patches in three days with Shion bug fixes, payload speed adjustments, and a massive support balance pass nerfing Mercy, Lifeweaver, and Vendetta
World of Warcraft — Hotfixes June 22 & 23 with Guardian Druid Elune's Chosen nerfed, Aldrachi Reaver massively buffed, and Arcane/Fire Mage damage increases
Valorant — Patch 13.00 launching Act 4
Apex Legends — June 22 mid-season balance update for Season 29: Overclocked
Forza Horizon 6 — Series 2 Hotfixes fixing a Credits exploit in The Eliminator and stability improvements
Guild Wars 2 — June 25 content and balance update
Hades 2 — Hotfix preventing boons from being more useful than intended
Slay the Spire 2 — Beta v0.108 adding Bestiary to compendium, new Neow relics, and card buffs
Fortnite — Chapter 7 Season 3 early season hotfixes and weapon tuning
League of Legends Patch Notes — Patch 26.13
Date: June 23, 2026
Patch 26.13 drops right as MSI 2026 kicks off in South Korea, but new champion Locke won't be available on the tournament patch. Locke the Ashen Exorcist is a demon-hunting ADC whose attacks deal additional magic damage on-hit, scaling with enemy missing health. His kit revolves around Soul Nails that mark enemies for bonus damage, a self-damaging attack speed steroid with delayed healing, and a teleport-dash execute ultimate. He hits live servers June 24 alongside Broken Covenant and High Noon skins.
Ranked 5s returns for a limited run starting June 26 with an 8 PM start time. Last-hit indicators are coming to Ranked and Normal Draft queues for the first time — you can toggle them off if you prefer the challenge. Champion balance hit a wide roster: Aatrox's max execute was cut from 27.5% to 23.75%, Elise received significant spider form buffs, Gnar's W base damage and E cooldown were improved, and Kayn's Shadow Assassin form got a major overhaul with combat empowered duration extended and out-of-combat requirement halved. Brand and Swain were nerfed, Renata Glasc's W cooldown was increased, and Zeri received buffs across Q, W, E, and R to open up AP builds.
Read the official patch notes:
Overwatch Patch Notes — June 23, 24, and 25 Patches
Dates: June 23 (bug fix), June 24 (gameplay hotfix), June 25 (balance patch)
Blizzard pushed three patches in three days as Season 3: Into the Tiger's Den settles in. The June 23 bug fix addressed Shion's Joyride leaving collision behind after hitting enemies, Kiriko's Ofuda range being set incorrectly, Ramattra's Void Barrier cooldown resetting when it shouldn't, and several ability interaction bugs including Ashe's Calamity Power and Tracer's Recall cooldown reset.
The June 24 gameplay hotfix tuned the new Hybrid map — payload speed was slightly lowered, payload unlock time after point capture was increased, and payload wait time at the end of area 2 was extended. These adjustments suggest the map was playing faster than intended.
The June 25 balance patch was the heavy one. Lifeweaver's healing improvements pushed his ultimate charge rate too high, so ultimate cost was increased 9% and overhealth conversion from Tree of Life was halved from 100% to 50%. Mercy's Damage Boost was reduced from 30% to 25% with that power shifted into Chain Boost. Mercy's ultimate cost also went up 7%. Vendetta took major nerfs — damage bonus halved from 50% to 25% and Onslaught cooldown reduction per stack cut from 5% to 3%. Mizuki's Katashiro Return got quality-of-life buffs with reduced cooldown and increased duration. Weekly quest requirements were also lowered.
Read the official patch notes:
World of Warcraft Patch Notes — Hotfixes June 22 and 23
Dates: June 22 and June 23, 2026
Two enormous hotfix batches continuing Midnight's aggressive tuning cadence. Guardian Druid's Elune's Chosen build caught a significant nerf — Elune's Favored healing was reduced from 25% to 15% of Arcane damage dealt. Blizzard noted the build was outputting higher damage than intended for a tank and confirmed they have further plans to update the Guardian Apex Talent in a future patch.
Aldrachi Reaver Demon Hunter received its biggest buff yet — Reaver's Glaive damage increased 30%, Warblade's Hunger damage increased 55%, and Wounded Quarry damage went from 25% to 30% of Physical damage dealt. Blood Death Knight's Dance of Midnight proc chance was increased from 10% to 12.5%.
DPS tuning was extensive. Arcane Mage got a flat 4% all-damage increase plus Sunfury-specific buffs with Burden of Power Arcane Blast bonus up to 30% and Arcane Pulse bonus up to 20%. Fire Mage's Frostfire build received massive buffs — Pyroblast +25%, Shatter bonus up to 40%, Heat Sink up to 25%, and Blast Radius Comet Storm bonus up to 50%. Herald of the Sun Paladin now applies 3 Dawnlight charges from Wake of Ashes instead of 2. Marksmanship Hunter's Explosive Shot/Salvo interaction was fixed.
Read the official patch notes:
Valorant Patch Notes — Patch 13.00 / Act 4
Date: June 23, 2026
Act 4 launches with Patch 13.00. The new act brings a fresh competitive season, new battle pass content, and balance adjustments. After the lighter Patch 12.11 that closed Act 3, this update signals Riot's priorities heading into the second half of the competitive year. Agent Miks, who launched with Act 2 just two weeks ago, is still settling into the meta and didn't receive changes this patch.
Read the official patch notes:
Apex Legends Patch Notes — June 22 Mid-Season Update
Date: June 22, 2026
Respawn pushed a mid-season balance update for Season 29: Overclocked. The update addresses legend balance and weapon tuning that emerged during the first seven weeks of the season. Axle, who launched with the season on May 5, received adjustments based on performance data. Deathbox Respawns and chain healing — the two headline mechanics introduced with Overclocked — also received tuning based on how they've affected match pacing and squad recovery rates.
Read the official patch notes:
Forza Horizon 6 Patch Notes — Series 2 Hotfixes 1 & 2
Dates: June 22 (Hotfix 1) and June 23 (Hotfix 2)
Two hotfixes in two days. Hotfix 1 fixed a Credits exploit in The Eliminator where players were earning unintended amounts of Credits — the kind of economy exploit that can spiral quickly if left unchecked. Hotfix 2 on June 23 delivered additional bug fixes alongside performance and stability improvements across all platforms. The Horizon Decades event series is now live, with week one celebrating the 1980s.
Read the official patch notes:
Guild Wars 2 Patch Notes — June 25, 2026 Update
Date: June 25, 2026
ArenaNet pushed a content and balance update continuing the Summer Game Fest celebration event that runs through June 21 alongside new story and gameplay content. The update follows the June 2 PvP balance pass and continues the Inquest/Ancora storyline that has been building through recent patches.
Read the official patch notes:
Hades 2 Patch Notes — June 2026 Hotfix
Date: Week of June 22, 2026
Supergiant pushed a targeted hotfix preventing certain boons from being more useful than intended. The fix addresses specific boon interactions that were overperforming relative to their rarity and investment cost. Supergiant continues its steady post-launch support cadence — the game has received consistent patches since its full 1.0 launch in April.
Read the official patch notes:
Slay the Spire 2 Patch Notes — Beta v0.108
Date: June 19 (beta branch), rolling to main branch
Mega Crit's latest beta patch adds the Bestiary to the compendium, giving players a dedicated place to track enemy encounters and patterns. Three new badges were added alongside two new Neow relics — Kaleidoscope grants 2 card rewards with cards from other characters on pickup, and Fishing Rod upgrades a random card every 3 normal combats. Hyperbeam, Synthesis, and Uproar all received damage buffs. Stratagem was unbanned in multiplayer after the bug that originally caused its ban was fixed. Fossil Stalker's multiplayer behavior was changed to grant a set amount of Strength rather than scaling per player hit.
Read the official patch notes:
Fortnite Patch Notes — Chapter 7 Season 3 Hotfixes
Date: Week of June 22, 2026
Epic continues tuning the Runners season with early hotfixes addressing weapon balance and map flow. The Bank Shot Pistol and Shock Rocks — both new to Season 3 — received adjustments based on the first three weeks of player data. Sprite spawn rates and buff values were fine-tuned. The Bus Exfil mechanic, teased at season launch, is expected to arrive in a future update.
Read the official patch notes:
What We're Watching Next Week
Diablo IV Patch 3.1.0 drops June 30 — the biggest Lord of Hatred balance patch yet with Rupture improvements, Mythic Unique enchanting, and massive class tuning across all six classes. Battlefield 6 Season 3's final phase, High-Value Target, also lands June 30. MSI 2026 is underway in South Korea through July 12, which will test LoL Patch 26.12's meta on the world stage. And Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains releases June 30. We'll be back next Sunday with the full rundown.
This is a weekly feature on EarlyMeta. If no new patch notes drop in a given week, we skip it. Only current-week patches are included — no backfilling. Read last week's roundup here.
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James Brooke
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Gaming industry analyst and video editor covering gaming trends, indie games, and industry analysis.
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