The launch of Riftbound: Origins, the first set for Riftbound: League of Legends TCG, is driving traffic and sales in game stores. With high interest in the game at retail, we reached out to UVS Games and Riot Games, who collaborated on the release, for answers to questions on key topics, including the early release at Walmart, plans for prereleases, and when more product will hit the market.
Consumer anticipation for the game was high. “We had a line of people waiting for it Friday morning, and that’s cool to see,” Steve Anderson of nine-store Maryland and Virginia-based chain Third Eye Comics, Games and Hobbies told us.
Sales were brisk. “Sales have been strong and steady throughout the weekend,” Adem Hotza of Hotsauce Games I Downers Grove, Illinois said.
And the game appeared to be bringing in new players. “It was surprisingly good, overall,” Pat Fuge of Wisconsin game store chain Gnome Games said of the launch in his stores. “Not full houses, but plenty of non-TCG players, and disenfranchised Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh! players. I’d guess 1/3 or so were not regulars. Female customers were the big surprise; their energy was really high.”
A UVS Games and Riot Games spokesperson shared their view on the launch. “The launch went great!, the spokesperson said. “We had a massive response from established TCG players and also saw a huge number of new-to-TCG players too. The response has been overwhelming in some ways, where we’ve heard complaints of limited availability and stores having unprecedented interest.”
We asked about reports that at least some Walmart stores had Riftbound on sale before the release date. “Walmart did accidentally see a limited release of product in the U.S. early,” they responded. “This was not intended and is something we’re working with them to actively prevent for future releases.”
Some retailers were disappointed in launch support, specifically the lack of a prerelease and difficulty in getting Release Event Kits, so we asked for clarification. “While we didn’t run prereleases with Riftbound: Origins, all of the stores who signed up within the window for the Release Event were sent kits,” the spokesperson explained. “We plan to host prerelease events starting with Spiritforged (see “Riot Games Unveils Second Set“) and for all future sets, with product shipments scheduled to arrive early to support these launches.”
With quick sales, the big question is always product availability. Here’s what UVS Games and Riot Games had to say about their plans. “Both UVS Games and Riot Games are committed to making more Riftbound product over time and reprinting as needed,” they said. “We have had product beyond the launch amounts arrive at some distributors already, with some on the way to others. Without getting too specific, we will have more stock arriving in most marketplaces before the end of the year as well! As you know, each distributor will handle their products in a slightly different way, with some hold-back volumes to support Organized Play stores and others sending out 100% of their stock ASAP. We are actively working with distributors and will be updating them with product delivery information as it becomes available.”
Source: ICv2
