Riot Games has been touting the celebration of its tenth anniversary of League of Legends for some time now, with the developer just revealing a new digital card game based within the game’s universe. It's called Legends of Runeterra, which was trademarked in 2018, and the timing is perfect considering all the recent controversy that Blizzard has caused with its online collectible card game, Hearthstone.

The title is indicative of a card game based on the existing lore of the many Champions available in the MOBA. While the 145 different champions do have their own backstories, there is no unified, large-scale world story like that of the Warcraft universe, and that is where another announcement by Riot comes into play.

The same source that revealed the card game before it was announced also tweeted about the ongoing development of an anime series set in the universe of League of Legends. In addition, the previously announced partnership between Riot and Marvel Comics to bring the world of Runeterra alive may be exactly what is needed to lay the groundwork for larger projects like a card game through a complex series of world-building through two different mediums.

RELATED: HBO's Ballers Series Finale Will Feature League Of Legends' Team Liquid

Riot is at an advantage in having such a large roster of well-known champions to choose from to make into cards or game classes. It will be fascinating to see what innovative designs they bring to the market, especially when there are so many options for online card games. While Hearthstone is popular, there is also Magic: The Gathering Arena, Gwent, Eternal, Pokémon TCG Online, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, Shadowverse, and more. It would be important to consider innovative game design alongside a competitive pricing structure, otherwise such a project could fall flat on its face like Artifact did following its disastrous launch by Valve a little less than a year ago.

Via: dexerto.fr

The announcement comes at an interesting time because Blizzard is in such a public relations mess due to their controversial handling of the situation with Blitzchung, and the continual trending of #BoycottBlizzard online.

Of course, there is always the possibility that Riot had planned to reveal their own card game at this time anyways for their tenth anniversary, and Blizzard has simply shot itself in the foot at this time purely by coincidence. Given that Blizzard seems to ignite some controversy at least a couple of times a year now, including this same time last year with its ridiculous Diablo Immortal announcement at BlizzCon, it may become increasingly difficult for developers to find windows of time for their announcements when Blizzard is not dealing with its self-inflicted wounds.

Source: dexerto.com, pcgamer.com, nexus.leagueoflegends.com, Riot Games

NEXT: The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors Review: Three Ninjas Kick Back