Riot announced a tabletop card game based on League of Legends – Legends of Runeterra fans are outraged

American studio Riot Games presented Project K, a board card game based on League of Legends and a competitor to Magic: The Gathering. The announcement was accompanied by a four-minute debut video.

Image source: Riot Games

«Project K is being created by a small team within Riot Games led by executive producer Chengran Chai and game director Dave Guskin.

The developers emphasize that Project K is equally focused on one-on-one matches in a competitive setting (Riot has plans for an esports ecosystem for the project) and cooperative play.

According to Riot, Project K will not be a physical counterpart to Legends of Runeterra (the existing League digital card game), but will inherit its champion design philosophy.

Fans of Legends of Runeterra in comments on YouTube and Reddit perceived the announcement of “Project K” as a betrayal on the part of Riot. “Legends of Runeterra died for this,” proclaimed zorroknowsbetter.

Apparently, “Project K” is Rune Battlegrounds, the teaser of which was published by the Chinese branch of Riot in September. At that time, a global release was not planned, but it seems that the situation has changed.

«Project K is planned for release in early 2025 in China – Riot has already found a partner to release the game in the Middle Kingdom. The search for publishers for other countries is ongoing, so there is no timetable for a global release yet.