My parents had not decided on my youngest brother’s name when he was born. For a while, he was known as “the baby with no name” by the nurses in the hospital. Pretty mysterious, huh? These days, he’s James.
League of Legends nearly had the same issue for the trading card game. We knew Project K was coming for weeks or months if you predicted it would never remain a Chinese exclusive.
Now we know the game will be called “Riftbound”
Riftbound features both 1v1 and multiplayer formats, including 2v2 and free-for-all matches. The first set, “Origins,” will include over 300 cards, featuring champions, spells, and gear from the League of Legends universe.
Pre-constructed “Champion Decks” will be available for figures like Viktor, Jinx, and Lee Sin. Each 56-card deck will contain units, legends, champions, spells, gear, runes, and battlegrounds. For those new to TCGs, the Riftbound: Proving Grounds boxed set offers a starting point, supporting 2-4 players with starter decks for champions like Lux, Annie, Master Yi, and Garen. Booster packs will also be available for players looking to expand their collections.
Chengran Chai, Executive Producer, Riot Games told the press:
We’ve been incredibly humbled by the excitement and interest from players around the world who can’t wait to play Riftbound. We’re grateful to the growing Riftbound community and the TCG players who’ve jumped in early to share their feedback including the call for more original art and refined UI. That feedback encouraged us to level up the game experience by revisiting some of our design decisions and conducting more playtests to ensure that we’re delivering a game that players will love.”
The game will be released in stages across the globe. China will be the first to launch the game, with the “Shining Soul” set arriving in Summer 2025. The game will be known as 符文战场 in China. English-speaking countries can expect to see Riftbound in October 2025, with additional regions following in 2026.
Riot Games is partnering with UVS Games, a TCG industry veteran, to support the release of Riftbound in local game stores and through organized play events. Opportunities to demo Riftbound decks will be available at upcoming Riot and tabletop events throughout the year. Riot Games is still finalizing card designs and gameplay mechanics.
Dave Guskin, Game Director, Riot Games, added:
We fell in love with the name Riftbound as it evokes Summoner’s Rift, captures a sense of playful action that we see in the game, and it’s extremely catchy and concise. As we moved to finalizing the name, we discovered that an indie studio in Australia, Barrel Smash Studios, had already released a game under the same title. They generously took the time to meet with us to hear our game vision, listened to why we loved the name of Riftbound so much, and agreed to transition the Riftbound name to us. We look forward to bringing Riftbound into the TCG and League of Legends community by getting decks into the hands of players later this year.”
