League of Legends and the world of Runeterra already has its own digital trading card game, Legends of Runeterra, and now there’s a new physical League card game in the works you should look out for as it develops: Rune Battlegrounds.
This is everything we know so far about League‘s teased physical card game.
What is LoL’s Rune Battlegrounds?
Rune Battlegrounds is an upcoming trading card game (TCG) from Riot Games, the developers behind League of Legends and Legends of Runeterra. While it does use the same IP, it seems like Rune Battlegrounds will be separate from LoR.
Rune Battlegrounds was first leaked on Sept. 9 on Bilibili, a video-sharing platform in China. In this teaser video, we can see several League champions such as Ahri, Miss Fortune, Lee Sin, Darius, and Kai’Sa featured on physical trading cards.
We can also see these champion TCG cards are split into six categories and will likely work similarly to how other TCGs have color properties. For example, Magic: The Gathering has color types like White, Black, Red, Green, and Blue, and each of these categories has unique cards, strategies, and playstyles. If Rune Battlegrounds follows suit, the six featured in this video could indicate specific categories, like Marksmen or Mage, or deck variations and playstyles.
At the time of writing this, Riot has yet to reveal details of what this card game will entail, how it will work, or how it might differ or be similar to Legends of Runeterra. But given LoR’s lack of playerbase and unsustainability, it’s likely Rune Battlegrounds will be vastly different.
When does Rune Battlegrounds release?
Rune Battlegrounds is expected to hit the market in 2025, according to the teaser on Bilibili. However, this isn’t a global launch. Joe Hixson, who works in the communications department at Riot, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Sept. 9 to dampen the growing hype by stating “there aren’t any plans for a worldwide release at this time.” Essentially, this means Riot has no plans to launch Rune Battlegrounds outside of China for the time being.
With enough interest and investment, hopefully Riot releases Rune for the rest of the world. I, for one, would love to get my hands on physical TCG that features unique mechanics and cards centered around my favorite League champions and their skins.
We’ll update this article if anything changes regarding a global Rune release.
