Riot Games’ TCG, Riftbound, looks to be off to a very promising start indeed. Translating dozens of League of Legends’ popular Champions to a card game is something the company has done before (more on that shortly), but its multiplayer format and impressive wave of strategies make it somewhat unique among genre contemporaries, even at this early stage.
It’s getting easier to get hold of cards, too, which means more people can play the game, but as we head into Radiance (the game’s fifth set), many are starting to ask whether we could get a digital version of the game to play with friends across the globe.
Here’s all we know about Riftbound going digital so far.
Will Riftbound Go Digital?
The answer here seems likely to be yes, at least eventually. A State of the Game post from August of this year included a swift reference to digital gameplay from Dave Guskin, Game Director.
“I am so, so excited to build the architecture of a game (and a lifestyle, honestly) worthy of the incredible community we have,” Guskin said.
“Some of those things involve more exciting ways to participate and achieve at your local store or with your friend group, and some of those things involve bringing more ways to play in a variety of new ways – in-person at large events, at the release of new products, and yes, digitally.”
Guskin did caveat this statement by saying “No, we do not have any announcements, but we are thinking about it.”
In the same month, a job listing for a “Publishing Product Manager” went live and specifically called out applicants with digital game experience and familiarity or experience with TCGs.
There are plenty of challenges to kick off a Riftbound digital client, although perhaps not quite as many as with Magic’s Commander format.
The game is played with up to four people, and you’d need to work in some kind of comms, although this is something Riot has experience with between League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and VALORANT.
Unlike Magic, which has decades of cards to catch up on, Riftbound could focus on the current card rotation, too.
Then there’s the elephant in the room…
What About Legends of Runeterra?
Oh boy, this one stings. Legends of Runeterra was the first attempt at a League of Legends card game, and it’s solely a digital experience.
It launched in 2020, with Riftbound’s Dave Guskin working as one of its directors. The game is available on Windows, iOS, and Android, and is an excellent card battler that, in many ways, felt overly generous in handing out new cards.
It’s still available, but updates have slowed to a crawl and now primarily focus on the Path of Champions – a sort of single-player roguelike mode.
Why do we bring it up? Because much of the card art and even the names from Legends of Runeterra cards made their way into Riftbound, despite the latter being built on entirely different mechanics.
If Riot leans into Riftbound as a digital TCG, it might be the final nail in the coffin of Legends of Runeterra – which would be very sad, especially given it’s sitting at an 87 on Metacritic.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
