The future of a spin-off from LoL looks bleak: “We love the game, but …”

In 2020, Legends of Runeterra was released for PC, Android, and iOS. With the online collectible card game, Riot Games aimed to expand its gaming offerings in the League of Legends universe. That did not succeed. In 2024, the future of the card game looks grim: the team is getting smaller, and the focus is shifting from PvP to PvE.

What kind of game is Legends of Runeterra?

• In broad terms, Legends of Runeterra relates to LoL as Hearthstone relates to WoW. It is a spin-off, as a collectible card game.
• You collect cards from the world of LoL and compete against an opponent. The game’s inspiration was Magic: The Gathering. It was designed to be accessible to everyone.
• In the game, both opponents start with 20 life points; whoever falls to 0 life points first loses.

Sad times at Riot Games:

Card game started well, developed poorly

What is the problem with the title? Currently, Riot Games has implemented a cost-cutting strategy and laid off 530 employees, aiming to focus on its core games. And Legends of Runeterra is no longer part of the core games.

As the head of the game says, Legends of Runeterra started off well but has not developed as well as other mobile games related to LoL, such as Wild Rift and Teamfight Tactics.

When it came to making cuts at Riot, Legends of Runeterra was affected because it had not built a “viable business model”.

Many from the team have either moved to other positions within the company or lost their jobs.

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Smaller team, different direction

How will it continue? The game wants to reinvent itself now and focus on the “Path of Champions” mode as the centerpiece of the game. This is a single-player roguelike mode where the player’s deck grows.

It is said: “We know there is a passionate community for the game that absolutely loves it – we do too.”

But since the launch, the game has faced “financial difficulties” and costs significantly more than it brings in. Therefore, the size of the team is now being reduced and the focus is changing to move more towards “PvE”.

In the coming weeks, the exact plans will be communicated.

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