Blizzard: WoW TCG will come back better than ever
by Michael Sacco 
Feb 12th 2010 at 10:30PM
Of course, this isn't too surprising, really. As it turns out, sources close to the TCG say that all development and art for the game has been done inside Blizzard for a year or more -- Upper Deck has only been providing the printing. They've either been preparing for the switch for quite a while, or ... well, I can't really think of any other reasons. Why go elsewhere when you could get it done internally anyway?"As some of you may already be aware, we will not be renewing the World of Warcraft: The Trading Card Game license with Upper Deck. We want to assure you that we are committed to supporting the TCG, and players can look forward to new content and strong organized play support in the near future. We will share additional details about the game's transition to a new partner as soon as possible. For those awaiting tournament prizes, we will ensure you receive them."
Licenses are big money, and contracts require that they be active for a certain amount of time. Companies can always choose not to renew their licensing agreement if they feel things aren't going well, or for any reason, really. But this is Blizzard, and this is a business move, pure and simple; you needn't worry that the game is going anywhere. It just might take a little bit to get everything back on track.
Filed under: News items, WoW TCG
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Grock Feb 12th 2010 10:34PM
UDE has been doing pretty poorly lately. They lost the license to the YuGiOh game, and then got slammed for counterfeiting the cards. They're on their way out. I just hope the switch doesn't kill the community it currently has.
Mognet T Feb 12th 2010 11:27PM
When the WoW TCG first came out, I was into another UDE property the VS System. Now both are a thing of the past, not surprising really. I really wish those guys weren't so lame.
pot Feb 13th 2010 5:33AM
Upper Deck has also just last week by Major League Baseball aka MLB for counterfeiting!
http://www.iptrademarkattorney.com/2010/02/trademark-attorney-major-league-baseball-card-upper-deck-mlb-trademark-infringement-new-york.html
pot Feb 13th 2010 5:35AM
To clarify, Major League Baseball Properties sued the Upper Deck Company for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, unfair competition, and breach of contract because Upper Deck continues to print baseball trading cards after its license was terminated.
reswab Feb 12th 2010 10:51PM
I love the art on the cards. I wish I could find a site that has'm all up.
Monkey Ghouls FTW.
Sonor Feb 12th 2010 10:59PM
wowtcgdb.com has all the art
NekoAli Feb 12th 2010 11:56PM
There is a lot more to making a card game than just the art assets though. Someone has to create the expansions, come up with card lists, balance play testing, printing the cards, etc. Still, it is good that Blizzard is planning on continuing the game. My question though is about the Miniatures game. That also went through Upper Deck, so will they stop producing that as well? And if so, will Blizzard pick that up also, or farm it out to another company?
Michael Sacco Feb 12th 2010 11:57PM
You might've misread, which is fine, but Blizzard has been doing *everything* else besides printing. The card lists, balance, etc., has been on their end.
Althalas Feb 13th 2010 10:43AM
This is not true. the development of the game was done inside UDE with outside consulting from Blizzard. Some of the people that were at UDE have moved to Blizzard, such as Jeff Donais.
But as far as I know Dave Humphries, Ben Seck and the rest of the team were still employed by UDE and the main developmental force of the game.
In addition people like Ben Drago were in charge of the organized lay department, and UDE owns and develop the MANTIS software that is used to run tournaments.
The new licence holder will have to develop a new OP program and set up a new stable of designers to handle the game. If this is Blizzard, great. If it's Wizards of the Coast, even better.
cygnus Feb 13th 2010 1:58PM
Mantis OP? Its just a DB software, nothing special whatsoever. Any undergrad can make one as good or better.
Sky Feb 13th 2010 12:13AM
This may just be me but I think the introduction of microtransaction pets has something to do with this.
It's no secret that the existence of loot cards have been driving up the demand for the trading cards and in a way loot cards are a form of microtransaction. Now that people can get that pet for $10 in the blizzard store there really isn't much reason to go ahead and buy the cards. Im pretty sure Upper Deck wasn't too happy with microtransactions and I wouldn't be surprised if the introduction of the microtransactions was a deal breaker for blizz and upper deck.
I could be completely off but just throwing that idea out there
Blacksabre Feb 13th 2010 2:12AM
Hmm. Smart speculation, Sky. I'll go with that.
Suzaku Feb 13th 2010 3:31AM
I don't know about that, WoW's TCG is actually pretty popular amongst TCG players. And, of course, the pets have all been mutually exclusive.
My understanding is that Upper Deck has been engaging in questionable business practices, which also caused them to lose the licensing rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG.
Cyno01 Feb 13th 2010 12:16AM
Couldnt go to WotC, since they own D&D, and i think D&D:O is still around... Is decipher still around? SWCCG was great, too bad they lost their lucasfilm license to WotC
My Tusken raider deck was near unbeatable...
imrahil327 Feb 13th 2010 4:08AM
Depends on your definition of "Around"...the company still exists, but I doubt they have the $ to get the WoW license. The company was embezzeled by the CEO's brother-in-law :(
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/07/game-company-embezzler-gets-6-years-must-repay-910000
But if you like Star Wars CCG, the Players' Committee is still going strong, making virtual sets! Check 'em out at starwarsccg.org if you want to get back into it, or just want to sell your cards.
Sorella Feb 13th 2010 12:36AM
>> You might've misread, which is fine, but Blizzard has been
>> doing *everything* else besides printing. The card lists,
>> balance, etc., has been on their end.
This is completely incorrect. The balance, the game mechanics, the research, and the development of the TCG itself were all (until now) being done at Upper Deck.
Sedirex Feb 13th 2010 1:57AM
Your unsourced statement is much more valid than his unsourced statement!
cygnus Feb 13th 2010 2:05PM
What are you talking about!? The unsourceness of the other one is much more beliavable than this one's
Raze Feb 13th 2010 12:39AM
When you say all the art is done inside Blizzard, I assume you mean Blizzard handles the commissioning of artists, because I doubt Samwise and any of his underlings suddenly learned how to draw outside the Warcraft Manly-Man style.
The only reason I pay any attention at all to the TCG is that it exhibits a much greater visual variety than World of Warcraft, so it's good to hear that the only aspect of the card game I'm concerned about won't be going away any time soon.
Suzaku Feb 13th 2010 3:31AM
Blizzard has many, many artists working for them across several departments, divided into a number of teams and groups, and several of their internal artists definitely do artwork for the TCG. At least some of the TCG card artwork is based on actual characters played by Blizzard artists.