Riftbound
Trading card game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Riftbound: League of Legends Trading Card Game, also known as Riftbound, is a trading card game developed by Riot Games, set in the League of Legends universe. The English version is being published by UVS Games, while the Chinese release is handled by Shining Soul.
- UVS Games (WW)
- Shining Soul (China)
| |
| Publishers |
|
|---|---|
| Release date | 31 October 2025[1] |
| Players | 2+ |
| Related games | |
| League of Legends | |
| Website | riftbound |
Development and release
Development of Riftbound began in 2023,[2] led by game director Dave Guskin, who previously served as director for Riot Games' digital trading card game (TCG) Legends of Runeterra,[3] and executive producer Chengran Chai.[4] In September 2024, a trailer for Rune Battlegrounds, an upcoming TCG based on the League of Legends intellectual property, was leaked on Twitter. The game was scheduled for release in early 2025 exclusively in China, with no plans for a global release.[5] In December 2024, Riot Games officially announced the TCG under the working title Project K, confirming its release for early 2025 in China. A global release was also confirmed; however, no release date was provided, as Riot had yet to secure a publishing partner for other regions.[2] In February 2025, UVS Games was announced as official publishing and distribution partner for English-speaking countries, with additional global regions planned for 2026.[6] In the following month, Riot announced the title of the game as Riftbound: League of Legends Trading Card Game, with a planned launch in China in Summer 2025. Shining Soul was confirmed as the publisher and distributor in the region.[7]
The first set, titled Origins, was released in China in August 2025,[8] followed by an English-language release on October 31, 2025.[9][10] The launch encountered three problems. First, supply was insufficient to meet the high demand.[11] Second, some cards had burred or rough edges.[12] Third, a certain percentage of booster packs contained fewer rare cards than intended due to a collation error.[13] The collation problem also affected the second set and Riot offered replacement cards, limited to three per person and six per household.[12]
Gameplay
A typical game of Riftbound involves two or more players who engage in a battle representing a Champion from the League of Legends universe. Every player must bring their own main deck and rune deck, along with a Champion Legend and a number of Battlefields determined by the selected game mode. The rune deck consists of 12 rune cards which serve as resource for playing cards from the main deck. The main deck must contain at least 40 cards, including spells, units and gear cards.[14][15]
Sets
Reception
Hamish Hector, writing for TechRadar, praised Riftbound for being easy to pick up for newcomers, even those without prior TCG experience, while still offering tactical depth.[20] Lauren Bergin of PCGamesN highlighted the unique feeling of different champions, but expressed concerns about the game's longevity in an already saturated market where it needs to compete with other TCGs such as Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon Trading Card Game, and Disney Lorcana.[14]