This is Kidani. This time, I would like to talk about a major trend shaping the future of the card game industry. In essence, I believe a “Fourth Wave” has been surging since last year. This Fourth Wave is, simply put, simultaneous multilingual release and global expansion.

Chasing The “Endless Characters” Illusion

Let me explain things in order. To begin with, what were the First through Third Waves of card games?

Consider what might cause a trading card game (TCGs) to end. Of course, its lifespan is over if the players disappear, but the creators can also reach a limit. The first thing that comes to mind is “running out of characters to make into cards.” It sounds simple, but this is actually a major hurdle.

To continuously develop a card game, it’s necessary to create the illusion that the characters are everlasting. This very illusion is an essential condition for establishing the TCG genre.

The reason this illusion is needed is that this hobby requires significant time and money, and players form friendships and communities through it. They naturally tend to avoid games that look like they might end.

Magic: The Gathering, released in 1993, established itself as an industry legend. As the originator of TCGs with its own original world, it can create creatures indefinitely. There is no fear of running out of characters. Magic was the pioneer, having an inherent structure that could “continue indefinitely” from the start. This was the First Wave.

Subsequent games like the Pokémon Card Game also saw more monsters with each new video game release, so there was no worry of running out of characters. Yu-Gi-Oh!, Duel Masters, and our own Cardfight!! Vanguard can be considered subtypes of this First Wave. The setting of Vanguard is based in Planet Cray, and the protagonists engage in card fights within this original fictional world. Since this world is an original creation, characters will never run out.

For a TCG to thrive long-term, we must create and maintain a fundamental belief among players: the belief that this world and its characters are boundless. This perception of an infinite is not just nice to have; it’s the foundational pillar upon which the entire TCG genre is built.

The Second Wave is our very-own Weiß Schwarz, launched in 2008. Weiß Schwarz borrows and features characters from various anime and games. As such, it also doesn’t worry about running out of characters. Many other “crossover-character” type card games have been released by other companies. For a long time, the card game industry was dominated by these two types: those belonging to the First Wave, which could endlessly generate characters; and those of the Second Wave, which could feature popular characters one after another.

Then, came the Third Wave with the ONE PIECE Card Game in 2022. It broke the conventional understanding of the card game industry, proving that even a single work as the source material could sustain continuous development. Of course, it requires the series to have a long history, an abundance of characters, and global popularity, but its impact on the industry was immense. Since then, Bushiroad has also released titles like The Quintessential Quintuplets Card Game and Love Live! Series Official Card Game, albeit with varied business schemes.

The influence of the Third Wave is not limited to the card game industry. From this year into the next, I foresee various entertainment companies releasing new card games based on individual works.

The Era of Card Game Internationalization

And now, Fourth Wave is already upon us. To reiterate, the Fourth Wave is the simultaneous multilingual release and global expansion of card games. These two elements have become essential for launching new card games.

For example, if you release a Japanese version and then an English version a year and a half later, it is far too late. Even if the English version doesn’t sell very poorly when delayed, the missed sales opportunity is significant compared to a simultaneous Japanese-English release. From a user’s perspective, a product where everyone already knows what the strong cards are is not going to be very enticing, is it? The card game market is still largely centered on Japan and the U.S., with other countries like China entering the scene, so at a minimum, Japanese and English versions need to be released simultaneously.

I feel the card game industry transitioned last year into an era where simultaneous multilingual release and global expansion is the standard.

For our part, the Palworld Official Card Game launching this July will be released simultaneously in Japanese, English, and Simplified Chinese versions. For new titles we release going forward, we are also planning their expansion in similar simultaneous multilingual formats.

Various Initiatives to Celebrate Our Milestone Year

Bushiroad will continuously maintain our company’s edge amidst the turbulent tides of change.

We currently operate 11 card game titles. I believe we are the world’s largest card game manufacturer in terms of the number of titles handled. We will continue to release one or two new titles annually, while aiming for more global expansion specifically for Cardfight!! Vanguard and Weiß Schwarz.

This year marks the 18th Anniversary of Weiß Schwarz and the 15th Anniversary of Vanguard, so we have various campaigns prepared.

We have produced commemorative pin badges for Weiß Schwarz and Vanguard respectively. The commemorative pin badges will be handed out at various events beginning with AnimeJapan 2026, subsequently also at events including Card Game Festival 2026. We are also producing commemorative booklets, which I hope you will not miss out on. We will rally the entire company to make this milestone year of 2026 a vibrant one.

The Blaster Blade and Dragonic Overlord Start Decks released on February 26 (Thursday), exactly 15 years after the launch of Vanguard, have received a tremendous number of orders. As orders far exceeded expectations, we are holding emergency meetings with production to see if we can increase the manufacturing quantity. I deeply feel the passionate commitment our players have for “Vanguard.” I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude.

Furthermore, next year will be Bushiroad’s 20th Anniversary. While it is not officially decided yet, I am thinking of expanding the scale of the Golden Week “Card Game Festival.” We aim to host tournaments for every title Bushiroad has ever released, including those titles that are no longer on sale. The extensive scale of events is our way of saying thanks to the players who have supported Bushiroad in the past 20 years and aim to create the world’s largest card game event.

As for trending topics, it undoubtedly includes the Palworld OFFICIAL CARD GAME launching in July. It has developed into a very fun game, to the point where I, as a player of Palworld OFFICIAL CARD GAME myself, am looking forward to enjoying it. Please try to participate in the upcoming trial events.

As we approach our 20th Anniversary, Bushiroad continues to outdo ourselves. We are preparing various projects beyond those mentioned here, so please look forward to future announcements.