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LoL card game Legends of Runeterra PC Open Beta begins late January

League of Legends' Hearthstone-inspired card game Legends of Runeterra has an upcoming Open Beta on PC, as well as plans for ranked and cosmetic updates in the future.

TJ Denzer

January 13, 2020 10:50 AM

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Riot surprised us on League of Legends’ tenth anniversary when they announced they be doing a Hearthstone-inspired strategic card game based in the League of Legends universe. Legends of Runeterra has gone through some testing and Riot is ready to let more players into the experience. They’ve announced a new PC Open Beta set for late January.

Riot Games announced the Legends of Runeterra PC Open Beta on January 12, 2020 via the Legends of Runeterra Twitter and YouTube channels. The Open Beta is scheduled to begin on January 24, 2020. Riot promises that with the launch of the Legends of Runeterra Open Beta, there will be no more account resets and a slew of other new additions for the game, including updated ranked plans, player cosmetics, new card rollout, and plenty more. You can check out the video from Design Director Andrew Yip and Executive Producer Jeff Jew laying out plans for the Legends of Runeterra Open Beta and beyond below.

According to Yip and Jew, Riot will be taking a similar approach to Legends of Runeterra that they’ve taken in League of Legends, meaning they’ll be trying to stay away from pay-to-win practices with buying cards and such. That also means that they’ll be monetizing the game similar to League of Legends with similar cosmetic items like little interactable Guardians that will sit on your side of the board as you play.

Ranked is also being designed to promote experimentation versus simply staying strictly to the meta. Once a rank tier has been achieved (Bronze, Silver, Gold, etc), you won’t be able to rank down beneath that tier and fall, for example, from Silver into Bronze. Riot is hoping this will incentivize players not to be frightened of losing progress when trying out new card strategies.

Will Legends of Runeterra be as permanent as Teamfight Tactics? Riot's future plans suggest as much. With the Open Beta launching on January 24, Riot has plans to release card packs throughout the following years dedicated to various regions in the game. If you want to make sure you have what you need take advantage of each new card launch, be sure to get in on January 24, 2020 when the Open Beta launches. You can learn more about how to register and get involved on the Legends of Runeterra website.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.