Speculation grows over Digital Riftbound Project amid new Riot Games job listing

Launched in late October 2025, Riftbound, the League of Legends Trading Card Game, has already made waves across the TCG scene. Initially a project that was supposed to launch exclusively in China, with no plans for a global release, Project K has rapidly grown into one of Riot Games’ biggest successes of the current era, especially following the struggles of Legends of Runeterra and 2XKO.

And yet, since its launch, the game has followed a familiar pattern of chasing demand and struggling to keep up with its rapidly growing audience. Now, it seems Riot Games could potentially be considering the next major step for the game: a digital launch.

In a now-deleted LinkedIn post, Tanya Berg, Senior Leader of Human Resources at Riot Games, advertised a new position earlier this week that quickly set social media ablaze. Coinciding with the game's huge success, fans have spent months finding ways to create their own online Riftbound experience, with the Rift Atlas Simulator rapidly growing in popularity and giving players a way to compete against others around the world from the comfort of their homes.

Last February, Chengran Chai, Riftbound’s Executive Producer, discussed the possibility of bringing the game to a digital space, saying that the idea had already been discussed extensively internally. He continued by stating that it was “a delicate topic” because “one of the key parts of the TCG experience was the in-person social interactions,” something Riot did not want to lose by potentially pushing players online. Even so, he “would not rule out” the possibility of launching an online Riftbound if it were deemed to be in the community’s best interest. Nevertheless, the possibility now seems increasingly relevant as more and more players turn to third-party alternatives.

Still, the job listing remains quite clear. This project, at best, remains in its early stages and could very well never see the light of day. As it stands, the job listing puts the applicant in the role of a senior publishing product partner, representing the player and market perspectives while helping determine whether the game is worth building, what it should be, who it is for, and how Riot could eventually bring it to market.

Importantly, the listing never explicitly mentions Riftbound. The project itself is described only as an “unannounced project,” meaning there is no confirmation that this role is connected to Riot’s TCG, though it rules out the listing being connected to LoR. However, the timing and the description of the position make the possibility particularly interesting.

Before Riftbound came Legends of Runeterra, a game that, much like 2XKO today, never managed to reach its full potential. Released in 2020, the game continued for several years and built a dedicated fanbase, but notoriously struggled to monetize itself properly. This eventually led to major downsizing in 2024, as Riot abandoned the CCG model and instead pivoted the game toward a Slay the Spire-esque PvE experience that utilized existing assets.

Since those layoffs, LoR has mostly remained in a diminished state, still receiving occasional updates but no longer getting full expansions or new PvP cards like it did in its earlier years.

A digital launch of Riftbound could potentially mark the definitive end of Riot's previous attempt at a League-based card game, while also allowing the company to rethink some of the lessons learned from Legends of Runeterra and approach the digital TCG space differently.

That past failure still looms over Riot and serves as a constant reminder of the challenges ahead. Riftbound could run because LoR walked, ultimately borrowing much of the original game's unique art and repurposing it over time. But whether Riot is actually ready to make that next step remains unknown.

For now, there is no confirmation that Riot is developing a digital version of Riftbound. The company’s latest job listing does, however, suggest that something new is being explored behind the scenes. If Riot does decide to bring its latest card game online, the question may no longer be whether there is demand for it, but whether the company can find a way to do it without losing what made Riftbound successful in the first place.