League of Legends fans were left disappointed today after Riot Games confirmed its new physical trading card game, Rune Battlegrounds, will not be getting a global release anytime soon.
The League community was sent into a frenzy on Sept. 10 when the X (formerly Twitter) account League of Legends Leaks & News shared a teaser from Riot’s Chinese team. The original tweet mentioned a global release for Rune Battlegrounds in 2025. However, Joe Hixson, lead comms for Riot, said only China can get their hands on the new TCG.
This announcement doesn’t mean the door is closed to the rest of the world forever, but it would likely rely on the TCG performing well in China before thinking about a global release. In the Chinese trailer, we saw many popular League characters, including Darius, Ahri, and Miss Fortune feature, which means they will likely be in the starter pack. Darius has featured in many of Riots’ other ventures, including Legends of Runeterra—Riot’s digital card game—and 2XKO, an upcoming fighting game.
This isn’t the first time Riot has tested a new game exclusively in China. Wild Rift and VALORANT mobile both have had exclusive beta tests in China. Wild Rift was eventually released globally, but Riot has yet to extend its VALORANT mobile beta to other parts of the world. Rune Battlegrounds will be released in China in 2025.
