Summary
- Riftbound’s announcement has brought both pleasure and pain.
- Legends of Runeterra players and disillusioned League of Legends players are critical of Riot, while those excited to try the new TCG are happy to see the improvements to card design.
- Riftbound launches in October 2025 in English-speaking territories.
The sentiment surrounding Riot’s announcement of Riftbound (previously known as Project K), is a mixed one. There was a time when everything Riot Games announced was met with rapturous applause, but a series of layoffs followed by the aggressive monetisation of League of Legends has resulted in a more skeptical player base.
Riot announced Project K in December, causing dismay among Legends of Runeterra players. The players of Riot’s digital card game had been told the game wasn’t generating enough revenue and would only be receiving limited support as a result. In fairness to Riot, building competitive decks as a free-to-play player in Legends of Runeterra is very easy and has likely contributed to the revenue problems. There are, of course, vast differences between a physical trading card game (TCG) and a digital card game.
Champions of the Rift
Riftbound’s official announcement video explains that Riot heard player feedback on the design of cards, and went back to the drawing board (literally) to create more original art for the TCG. Observers unanimously agree the design is vastly improved, with one commenter remarking “They look a lot less like cheap Uno cards with proper full art.”
Riftbound’s first set, Origins, is scheduled to release in English-speaking territories in October 2025. The set will contain 300 cards, which will be obtainable in pre-constructed decks and booster packs. There will also be a starter set called Proving Grounds, which will contain four starter decks featuring Lux, Annie, Master Yi and Garen respectively.
Interestingly, Riftbound will be playable 1v1, 2v2 and free-for-all formats. Formats with over two players have become a trend in modern TCGs, as the social aspect of competitive card gaming has become more pronounced in recent years.
Any mention of Riftbound will inevitably bring with it eulogies for Legends of Runeterra, which is still online as a (mostly) player-versus-environment game. The top comment on the Riftbound thread from brokerZIP reads, “Imagine if this game had an online counterpart. And maybe call it Legends of Runeterra? That would be sick.”
“Legends of Runeterra died for this,” writes Batsaxa. Although that’s not strictly true, a common sentiment among fans of the game is that Riot could have found a way to incorporate Legends of Runeterra into Project K, making the game an online component of the upcoming physical card game. However, if both games have very different game mechanics then this could prove an impossible task.
Riftbound will be available to play at upcoming Riot and tabletop events.
League of Legends
- Released
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October 27, 2009
- ESRB
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T for Teen: Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco