Riot delays League of Legends Riftbound's Arcane box, so here's how long you'll need to wait

January 8, 2026: 9:12am PT: Riot has since confirmed the legitimacy of the email, noting that “a delay in production” led to the Arcane boxes’ late shipping. It has also provided more information on Spiritforged’s rollout.

Riftbound, Riot Games’ League of Legends card game, has had an odd start to life. While the TCG itself is genuinely fun, with a unique identity that sets it apart from competitors like Magic: The Gathering, Lorcana, and Star Wars Unlimited, Riot has consistently struggled to meet demand. The first lot of packs went out with missing rares (something Riot has confirmed will impact Set 2, Spiritforged’s, release as well), with the developer admitting that it “missed the mark” on supply and demand.

Aaron caught up with Riftbound game director Dave Guskin at the TFT Paris Open, where he noted that team “undershot” with its estimations, but has “pulled all the levers [it] can to get the product out to players as quickly as [it] can.” While that hopefully heralds a smoother launch for Spiritforged, on Monday January 5, players who pre-ordered the Arcane-inspired box set that includes unique cards for League of Legends favorites Caitlyn, Heimerdinger, Jinx, Vi, Viktor, and Warwick, received an email telling them that shipping has been delayed.

As seen in Reddit posts from u/HarpoonTheMoon and u/Civilian-, the box was supposed to ship out before the end of 2025, but given that we’re now into 2026, that doesn’t appear to have happened. The new emails, screenshotted by Civilian and copied in full by Harpoon, seemingly confirm that the box will now be distributed in mid-February.

“We are reaching out from the Riot Games Merchandise Store with an update on your pre-order for the Riftbound: League of Legends Arcane Box Set. While the item was originally scheduled to fulfill at the end of 2025, production delays have shifted the timeline. Shipments are now expected to begin in mid-February 2026,” both posts read. “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

In its Thursday January 8 blog post discussing the January iteration of the merch store, Riot confirms that the email is, indeed correct: the Arcane Box will ship in mid-February. “This is due to a delay in production, but the sets are produced now and will soon make their way to the warehouse,” it writes, noting that, for Spiritforged, it’s “implemented a number of backend improvements to our store and logistics processes, with the goal of getting preorders out the door and into your hands sooner.”

“We heard you loud and clear: It took way too long for Origins preorders to arrive,” it says, confirming that “we expect to begin Spiritforged order fulfillment starting with Spiritforged’s English release.” The set will drop on Friday February 13 and, while Riot “can’t promise that every preorder will be in the mail that fast, [it’ll] do [its] best to get the cards to you as soon as possible.”

This is, of course, disappointing – who doesn’t want a collection of shiny new cards to kick off 2026? The flip side is that there’s at least been some form of communication, and there’s a new delivery date. It’s all about the silver linings, and with Spiritforged set to drop on Friday February 13, your deck will look absolutely stunning for the rest of the month. It’ll basically be Christmas all over again.