Brettspiele sind eine Welt. Trading Card Games, kurz TCGs, eine komplett andere Welt. Mit Gast-Experten Marc werfen wir einen Blick auf diese Welt.
The post SWAMS #93: Trading Card Games- Ein Blick über den Tellerrand first appeared on Blogspiele.
It’s hard to believe that it’s only been 3 years since Disney Lorcana was released. I still remember the chaos this new TCG caused at Gen Con 2023. Lines were massive, people lined up for hours ahead of time, and some people were even trampled. Needless to say, it was a hugely anticipated release. Since […]
Heute zeigen wir euch das exklusive Preview des Fatehold Chronologist aus Reality Fracture, der kommenden Erweiterung für Magic: The Gathering. Der Bird Wizard gehört zur Fatehold-Schule und nutzt die zurückkehrende Prepare-Mechanik. Sein zusätzlicher Zauber „Peer Review“ erzeugt einen Kreaturenspielstein und lässt euch Überwachen 1 anwenden.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Markus Kastell geschrieben
Wenn ich vor fünf oder zehn Jahren eine Prognose hätte abgeben müssen, wie sich der Kartenspielmarkt entwickelt, wäre ich vermutlich ziemlich daneben gelegen.
Damals hätte ich erwartet, dass sogenannte Living Card Games (LCGs) langfristig stärker wachsen würden. Feste Erweiterungen, keine Zufallspakete, gleiche Chancen für alle Spieler – das schien aus Spielersicht wie das deutlich fairere Modell.
Heute sieht die Realität anders aus.
Trading Card Games sind präsenter denn je und erhalten auf der SPIEL 2026 sogar erstmals eigene internationale Auszeichnungen. Das wirft für mich eine spannende Frage auf: Stehen wir erst am Anfang einer noch größeren TCG-Welle?
Immer wieder wurde in den vergangenen Jahren vorhergesagt, dass das klassische TCG-Modell irgendwann an seine Grenzen stößt.
Zu teuer. Zu kompliziert. Zu stark vom Sammelaspekt geprägt.
Doch während viele LCG-Reihen eingestellt wurden oder deutlich kleiner geworden sind, erleben wir weiterhin erfolgreiche Sammelkartenspiele. Neben den etablierten Größen erscheinen regelmäßig neue Systeme, die innerhalb kürzester Zeit große Communities aufbauen.
Offenbar erfüllt das Sammeln, Tauschen und Optimieren von Decks ein Bedürfnis, das weit über das eigentliche Spielen hinausgeht.
Vielleicht liegt genau dort der entscheidende Unterschied.
Ein Brettspiel kaufe ich häufig für meine bestehende Spielgruppe. Ein TCG bringt dagegen oft seine eigene Community mit.
Turniere, lokale Spieltreffs, Tauschbörsen und Online-Diskussionen schaffen eine soziale Dynamik, die viele andere Spiele nur schwer erreichen.
Wer einmal Teil einer aktiven TCG-Community war, versteht schnell, warum diese Spiele eine so starke Bindung erzeugen können.
Trotzdem bleibt für mich eine offene Frage.
Denn der Vorwurf des „Pay to Win“ begleitet viele Sammelkartenspiele seit Jahrzehnten. Wer mehr Geld investiert, hat häufig Zugang zu stärkeren Karten oder zumindest mehr Möglichkeiten beim Deckbau.
Natürlich ist die Realität oft komplexer. Erfahrung, Deckbau-Kenntnisse und Spielstärke spielen ebenfalls eine große Rolle.
Dennoch bleibt die Herausforderung bestehen: Wie schafft man ein System, das wirtschaftlich funktioniert und gleichzeitig möglichst fair wahrgenommen wird?
Gerade hier sehe ich enormes Potenzial.
Vielleicht erleben wir künftig hybride Modelle zwischen LCG und TCG. Vielleicht werden digitale Komponenten stärker integriert. Vielleicht entstehen neue Wege, um Sammeln attraktiv zu machen, ohne den Wettbewerbsaspekt zu stark vom Budget abhängig werden zu lassen.
Die Branche hat in der Vergangenheit immer wieder bewiesen, dass sie kreative Lösungen finden kann.
Deshalb glaube ich nicht, dass das aktuelle TCG-Modell das Ende der Entwicklung darstellt.
Die neuen Auszeichnungen auf der SPIEL 2026 könnten ein Hinweis darauf sein, dass Trading Card Games künftig noch mehr Raum einnehmen werden.
Mehr Aussteller. Mehr Turnierflächen. Mehr Community-Events.
Vielleicht erleben wir in einigen Jahren eine Messe, auf der TCGs einen ähnlich großen Stellenwert besitzen wie klassische Brettspiele.
Ob das für alle Besucher eine positive Entwicklung wäre, darüber lässt sich sicherlich diskutieren.
Ich muss zugeben: Ich hätte die Entwicklung so nicht erwartet.
Nach dem Erfolg von LCGs schien es für mich plausibel, dass sich feste Erweiterungsmodelle langfristig stärker durchsetzen würden. Tatsächlich sieht es aktuell eher so aus, als hätten Trading Card Games ihre Position weiter ausgebaut.
Das macht die Entwicklung für mich aber umso spannender.
Denn unabhängig davon, ob man selbst TCGs spielt oder nicht, zeigt sie, dass die Brettspielbranche immer wieder Überraschungen bereithält – und dass Prognosen oft deutlich schwieriger sind, als sie zunächst erscheinen.
Glaubst du, dass Trading Card Games in den kommenden Jahren weiter wachsen werden? Oder erleben wir aktuell lediglich eine besonders starke Phase?
Und was hältst du vom klassischen Booster-Modell: zeitlos erfolgreich oder langfristig ein Auslaufmodell?
Schreib deine Meinung gerne in die Kommentare. Ich bin gespannt, wie du die Zukunft der TCGs einschätzt.
California tabletop publisher and game development studio Solis Game Studio is expanding its reach into US hobby retail through a new distribution deal with Southern Hobby, following several years of building its own catalogue through crowdfunding and direct sales.
Solis, which was founded in 2020, has published games including Pocket Paragons, Space Lion, Treat, Please! and The Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game, while also carrying out development and production work for other tabletop companies.
Its contracting work has included projects such as the Cyberpunk TCG, with Solis having led game design and development of a prototype that secured licensing for a new game.
The Cyberpunk TCG ultimately raised more than $28m from 50,000 backers through a huge Kickstarter campaign by publisher WeirdCo earlier this year.
Solis also did development work on Emerson Matsuuchi-designed Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game, and last month announced it would be the developer for the official card game of battle royale video game PUBG.
The company said Southern Hobby will distribute new Solis release Six-Sided Seas, as well as Treat, Please! and The Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game, describing the deal as a “major step forward” for the business.
The publisher has previously used crowdfunding to bring several of its games to market, with its biggest success to date 2024’s licensed Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game, designed by Brian McKay, which raised just over $50,000 from about 800 backers.
Its first Pocket Paragons Kickstarter raised around $22,000 from 432 backers in 2020, while Space Lion: Divide and Conquer raised just under $18,000 from 343 backers and Treat, Please! brought in about $14,000 from 169 backers.
Solis has also already been selling directly to retailers through its own wholesale programme.
The publisher’s newest release, push-your-luck worker placement game Six-Sided Seas, will enter US distribution on October 2 with a $24.95 MSRP.
The two-player pirate game, designed by Kroze Kresky, is built around an unusual component format, consisting of 32 dice and a 14in by 24in edge-stitched playmat which is rolled inside the game’s box – allowing the title to be presented vertically, horizontally, or with a collapsible hangtab in retail.
Solis has previously said the idea grew from a visit to game stores in Thailand, where Chris Solis saw a store employee laminating a game board to protect it and began considering whether the board itself could instead be made from playmat material.
He said in the blog post, “When I returned home I issued an internal design challenge to my community. What does a game that is a playmat and single component look like?
“We explored a ton of really interesting designs and even did a limited release for one of them but none captured me like Six-Sided Seas by Kroze.”
Solis launched the game at Gen Con earlier this month, and said it sold all the copies it brought to the convention. Several of its scheduled learn-to-play sessions at Gen Con also sold out, according to the convention’s event listings.
In addition to founder and owner Chris Solis, the studio’s team includes developer Bryan McKay, business operations specialist John Brieger, graphic designer Katherine Boils, marketing manager Courtney Shernan, convention manager Sara Jordan and community manager Antonio Gil.
The post Solis Game Studio makes ‘major step forward’ through US retail distribution push with Southern Hobby first appeared on .
Asmodee‘s UK distribution business more than doubled its operating profit to £35.1m last year, with the company citing the booming trading card game market as the biggest driver.
The profit surge for Esdevium Games – which officially re-registered as Asmodee UK Limited last month – came on the back of an almost 60% rise in turnover to £224m according to its latest annual accounts.
Asmodee UK said TCGs had a very strong year and remained the “pre-eminent category” in the 12 months to the end of March 2026, specifically highlighting Pokémon, One Piece, Disney Lorcana and Star Wars Unlimited as all playing their part in the result.
The distributor said board games continued “steady performance” over the critical holiday period, and picked out Brick Like This and The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game as strong releases from the year.
Brick Like This was the debut release from Asmodee studio Dotted Games, which was launched in 2024 after the company inked a partnership deal with LEGO to create a dedicated design studio focused on making new LEGO board games.
That studio launch came a few months after The LEGO Group and Asmodee had announced their first jointly-crafted board game, Monkey Palace.
Asmodee UK’s figures reflect the transformation taking place across Asmodee globally, where rapid TCG growth has increasingly shifted its revenue mix towards distribution.
The global Asmodee Group reported €1.68bn of net sales for the same financial year across its publishing and distribution operations, up 23%, while operating profit was up about 43.6%.
More than 72% of group revenue was generated by distributing games published by other companies, compared with 63% a year earlier – and TCGs accounted for about 60% of annual group net sales.
BoardGameWire reported in May that sales of Asmodee Group’s own board games actually fell 5.8% over the period, underlining how heavily the group’s overall growth was being powered by distribution.
That trend has continued into Asmodee’s Group’s new financial year. Its April-to-June revenue increased another 20.9% year-on-year to €422.1m, with TCGs responsible for more than two-thirds of quarterly revenue, while board game sales rose 16%.
Asmodee UK’s annual results follow the unit changing up its leadership structure to kick off 2025, with a trio of senior executives being given updated roles amid the company splitting its operation again into three separate channels, carving out e-commerce as its own line.
The move came just over four years after Asmodee UK had split its sales and marketing efforts into two separate categories – hobby and independent, and national retail.
Asmodee bought a majority stake in UK board game distributor Esdevium in 2010, and began using Asmodee UK as its trading name in 2017. The UK operation updated its registered company name to Asmodee UK Limited last month.
A statement from the business said, “Whilst we value our 30 year legacy in the UK hobby market under the Esdevium Games name, this decision reflects our pride in belonging to the wider Asmodee business and marks an important step in enhancing the UK footprint within the group.”
It added that its fellow UK distribution operation Coiledspring Games will continue to operate as a distinct trading division of the company under its own website. Asmodee bought Coiledspring in 2018.
Coiledspring focuses on family-weight board games, party games, logic puzzles, jigsaws and soft toys, while Asmodee UK distributes a wider range of hobby board games, TCGs, miniatures and accessories.
The post Asmodee UK more than doubles annual operating profit to £34m as TCG boom powers growth first appeared on .
Australia’s biggest gaming convention is growing its tabletop exhibition space yet again amid the ongoing global boom in TCGs.
Pax Aus has featured tabletop games since the Melbourne-based con was launched in 2013, with the segment having grown over the years to take up a significant share of the show’s floor space.
The convention’s event director Lauren Luciani told BoardGameWire Pax Aus is expanding its dedicated tabletop hall by 7% for this year’s show, which takes place from October 9 to 11 – adding that even with that extended footprint, a waiting list had emerged for tabletop exhibitors.
Luciani said about 70% of exhibitors from last year’s show were returning for 2026 – although she would not reveal overall exhibitor numbers, or even an overall attendance for last year’s event, describing both figures as “confidential”.
Pax Aus’ announcement of this year’s show was once again dominated by major TCG publishers, underscoring the huge and growing popularity of a swell of different collectible card games over the past few years.
Magic: The Gathering‘s new Reality Fracture set, Disney Lorcana, Riftbound: League of Legends TCG, Star Wars: Unlimited, One Piece Card Game, Dragon Ball Super Card Game, Flesh and Blood and the Cyberpunk TCG were all namechecked in a recent announcement from Pax Aus showcasing this year’s event.
On the board game side highlighted games were thinner on the ground, however, with Asmodee studio titles including The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Trick-Taking Game, Citadels Duel, Schadenfreude and party games from its Exploding Kittens studio the only non-TCGs namechecked in the announcement.
Asmodee ran a large booth at last year’s show, while other stands included board game distributors Let’s Play Games and Asmodee-owned VR Distribution (which rebranded to Asmodee in Australia last September), as well as a first-ever appearance from Warhammer publisher Games Workshop.
Other board game publishers with dedicated booths were few and far between in 2025, however, with much of the remaining tabletop section made up of retailers and a handful of stands for media outlets.
Update August 12, 2026: Pax Aus contacted BoardGameWire to add that TTRPG veteran Chaosium has just announced it will be attending, hosting free game sessions and showing off its co-op board game Horror on the Orient Express.
The event does include a large area for indie game developers on both the video and tabletop sides, however, called Pax Rising – expected to host more than 80 independent creators this year.
That segment also includes an Indie Showcase competition to highlight games from Australia’s independent design scene.
Last year’s winners in the tabletop category were Conquest For The Capital by MountainSoul Gaming, Coffee Up! by ToToTam, Cartograph – Atlas Edition by The Ravensridge Emporium, Panda Party by Cheerfolk, Spacewreck Salvage by Aethermon Studios and Potion Society by The Murmuring Mystic.
When asked by BoardGameWire whether Pax Aus now sees TCGs as the primary growth area for the convention, Luciani said, “The trading card game category continues to experience significant growth globally, and PAX Aus is committed to reflecting the interests and passions of our community in the content and experiences we deliver.
“While TCG will have a strong presence at this year’s event, there are still a number of tabletop announcements to come, and attendees can expect a diverse range of tabletop gaming experiences on offer.”
This year’s event will include a segment where fans can meet Australian game designers Jay Bendixen, Ryan Boucher, Natalie Delaney-John and Cam Jasson during special sessions for Gretchen’s Garden and That Dicey Word Game.
Pax Aus also appears to be attempting to broaden its appeal to the collectibles market. eBay Australia returns as presenting sponsor of the Tabletop Hall for a second consecutive year, expanding its presence with the debut of eBay Live, live-streamed collector content and a dedicated Collectors Club programme.
Australia remains a long, expensive trip for European and North American attendees, of course. But for international publishers weighing whether the expense of exhibiting in Australia can be justified, Luciani argued that the value extends beyond direct sales.
“PAX Aus provides tabletop exhibitors with access to one of the largest and most engaged gaming communities in Australia,” she said. “Beyond direct sales opportunities, exhibitors benefit from brand exposure, community building, hands-on product experiences and the ability to engage with both existing fans and new players.
“As tabletop gaming continues to grow, PAX Aus remains a unique platform for publishers, retailers and creators to showcase their products alongside the broader gaming culture that brings tens of thousands of fans together each year.”
PAX Aus now forms part of Melbourne International Games Week, Australia’s largest annual games festival.
This year’s event takes place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from October 9 to 11.
The post TCGs drive PAX Aus tabletop expansion as organisers grow segment’s exhibition space by 7% first appeared on .
Asmodee has kicked off its new financial year with another powerful quarter of growth, with the publishing and distribution giant’s net sales soaring 20.9% year-on-year to €422.1m.
TCG distribution remains the engine behind Asmodee’s ongoing growth, with trading card games responsible for more than two-thirds of that quarterly revenue, according to the company’s latest financial report.
But board games also put on a strong showing in the April to June quarter, the report shows, with net sales rising 16% year-on-year amid an ongoing recovery from volatility caused by last year’s US tariffs uncertainty.
Much of that increase came via Asmodee’s distribution of titles from other publishers, with sales of its own published titles only growing 1.8% in the quarter.
That small rise marks a significant improvement for Asmodee’s own board game publishing operation, however, with sales of its published titles having fallen almost 10% in January to March compared to the prior year, and 12.7% in the all-important October to December period in 2025, which includes the run-in to Christmas.
Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler said growth in US board game sales was driven by “the continued normalization of retailer inventory levels”, as well as “resilient” consumer demand for tabletop games and positive impact of its own commercial and marketing initiatives.
That improvement comes after Asmodee repeatedly highlighted retailer inventory reductions and cautious purchasing behaviour – particularly in the US – through much of the past year, as store owners tried their best to navigate rising prices, unpredictable shipping rates and other fallout from the US tariffs.
During Asmodee’s earnings presentation last November, Koegler said US consumers were delaying purchases amid economic uncertainty and favouring lower-priced products, while retailers were pushing Christmas merchandising later into the year.
Three months later, the company reported US quarterly sales had slumped 23%, attributing much of the decline to retailers reducing purchases and ongoing inventory adjustments despite stable consumer sell-through.
Some of those pressures now appear to be easing, although Asmodee’s own US sales were down almost 9.4% year-on-year in April to June – a situation Koegler said was partly caused by the timing of its most recent Star Wars Unlimited release affecting year-on-year comparisons.
Speaking more generally about Asmodee’s board game sales, he said its evergreen franchises such as Catan and Dobble/Spot-It! continued to perform well, and highlighted other new releases including dnup, The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship and Cozy Stickerville as having contributed to growth.
He also added that ATM Gaming, which Asmodee bought in a €250m deal earlier this year, had delivered a strong performance across its social games portfolio, including Speed Bac/Quickstop and Pili Pili.
Koegler also highlighted the first Zombicide crowdfunding campaign under Asmodee ownership, which attracted more than 11,000 backers and raised over €3m, describing it as an early success for its expanding crowdfunding strategy.
The post Asmodee’s quarterly net sales soar again to over €422m, board game revenue jumps 16% first appeared on .
Magic: The Gathering‘s record-breaking growth continues despite a surge of high-profile competitors, with the TCG soaring past $500m in quarterly revenues for the first time in its 33-year history.
The veteran card game has been on a tear over the past four years, evolving from parent company Hasbro‘s first $1bn-brand into the toy and entertainment giant’s primary source of growth.
That powerful rise has been built upon the already hugely popular TCG’s expansion into licensed crossovers through its Universes Beyond line since 2021, which has seen it bring out sets for franchises including The Lord of The Rings, Final Fantasy and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The game’s success now underpins Hasbro’s fortunes, with Magic’s strong performance repeatedly leading the line in the company’s quarterly results – as well as offsetting underperformance in other parts of the business.
Magic’s revenue grew 32% in Q2 of this year compared to the same period in 2025 according to Hasbro’s latest results report, reaching a record $545m on the back of strong sales of Secrets of Strixhaven and Marvel Super Heroes – the latter of which the company described as a “record-breaking debut”.
That result means Magic alone outstripped Hasbro’s entire consumer products segment – which includes Nerf guns, Transformers and Peppa Pig toys – which recorded revenues of $463m in the same period, up 5% year-on-year.
The consumer products segment made an operating loss of about $14.5m in Q2, compared to an operating profit of $270m from Wizards of the Coast, the business arm which includes Magic, Dungeons & Dragons and its digital games such as Monopoly Go!.
Hasbro ascribed the consumer products losses to “incremental tariff expense, entertainment-related mix shifts, and normal seasonality”, as well as the fallout from a cyberattack in March which saw unspecified parties gain unauthorized access to its network.
The company said the cyberattack reduced second-quarter revenue by an estimated $25m while generating $11m in direct costs as order processing, shipping and invoicing were disrupted, particularly on the consumer products side. Hasbro said those operations had now returned to normal, although it expects to incur additional costs related to the incident in future periods.
Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said in the results report, “With strong indications for our remaining releases and line of sight to continued growth in 2027, the Magic flywheel is firing on all cylinders.”
Wizards revenue was also up 27% across the first six months of 2026, with Magic revenue climbing 34% thanks to continued growth across tabletop and digital products, Universes Beyond releases, Secret Lair products and back catalogue sales.
That continued growth comes despite the emergence of several high-profile challengers in the trading card game market over the past few years, including Disney Lorcana, Star Wars: Unlimited, Altered, Flesh and Blood and One Piece Card Game – as well as the ongoing power of fellow TCG veterans Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!.
Magic’s performance was strong enough for Hasbro to increase its full-year guidance, with the company now expecting total revenue growth of between 5% and 7%, up from its previous forecast of 3% to 5%.
The post “The Magic flywheel is firing on all cylinders”: veteran TCG tops $500m quarterly revenue for first time first appeared on .
Heute gibt es eine Folge in der wir ein wenig von Hölzchen auf Stöckchen kommen und dennoch über viele interessante Dinge reden! Hört rein und lasst Euch diesmal ein wenig überraschen, was so auf Euch zukommt.
The post SWAMS #82: Von Hölzchen auf Stöckchen first appeared on Blogspiele.
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