A League of Legends card game to rival Magic The Gathering? Oooh yes, that sounds like a winner. While they can be expensive hobbies, a great TCG can lure in huge crowds. Sure, Riot Games already has its digital LoL card game, Legends of Runeterra, but there’s something about gathering around a table in-person, watching decks compete in front of your own eyes, and holding a physical card between your fingers that a videogame can’t replicate. So when I saw Riot reveal its new TCG, known at the minute as Project K, I was instantly interested. Right up until the moment I saw that it was exclusive to the Chinese market. Darn. Well, I come bearing some excellent news, because Riot says it’s found a way to bring Project K to English-speaking regions soon after its launch in China, as well as other languages and territories in the future.
While League of Legends’ success as an addictive and lucrative MOBA built the company into what it is today, Riot has been relentless over the last few years expanding into new genres and mediums. It nailed tactical shooters with Valorant, turned LoL into an autobattler with Team Fight Tactics, and helped create one of the biggest TV series of recent memory, Arcane. Soon, it’ll even get its hands dirty in the fighting game realm with 2XKO – and let’s not forget there’s that League of Legends MMO still way off in the distance. Not a bad effort, right? Project K sees it branch out into yet another arena, taking on some of the biggest names in the world of physical trading card games.
According to its initial Chinese teaser trailer, Project K may be called Rune Battlegrounds, but with Riot not confirming that yet and slight mistranslations possible, a different name may end up on the box.
A proper reveal from Riot late last year showed off more of the game, including how cards can have single or dual types and confirming that art from across games in the Runeterra universe will be used.
That’s pretty much all we’ve seen of Project K for now, and the news that it was launching in China only was disappointing. However, Dave Guskin, the game and design director for Riot’s research and development department, has just blessed us with some great news.
“After some searching, we found the right partner to help us publish and distribute Project K to players around the world!” Guskin says in a post on X. “We’ll be working with UVS Games, the team behind @UniVersusCCG, who share our vision in building a great community around Project K.” For context, UniVersus is a card game maker and distributor that has licensed sets for IP such as Tekken, Critical Role, and Attack on Titan.
“After China, we’ll be launching Project K in many English-speaking countries later this year with additional regional rollouts targeted for 2026,” he adds.
That’s right – the new League of Legends card game Project K will hit shelves in English-speaking nations before the end of 2025, according to Guskin.
While he doesn’t specify which countries, the United States, Canada, and the UK feel like the biggest English language markets where LoL fans reside. But that’s speculation on my part for now.
Project K will no doubt be pricey, so maybe start budgeting now if you’re also looking to splash out on some of the biggest upcoming PC games this year. If you’re an existing League player, take a look at our list of the best LoL skins.
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