You guys might be interested to know that Konami are in the process of taking YGO and all rights to the from UDE. Could this affect the WoW TCG? Details here:

http://www.yugioh-card.com/en/press/press_release_YGO.pdf

UDE certainly don't approve and have sued for $75 million for a breach of contract (http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-nvdce/case_no-2:2008cv01737/case_id-63327/). However, I'm a little worried. Can UDE keep running without the huge income of YGO?

/discuss

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Level 0 Judge (Because apparently under 16 year olds can't get Judge certificates =/)
The Official WoW TCG Forums Cross-Dressing Englishman From Hawaii

I am no economist but this worries me greatly.

We are in the midst of a recession.

UDE loses its biggest money earner.

In the UK the value of the pound continues to plumit.

In an attempt to survive UDE hikes up prices, and big time in the UK.

UK players stop playing.

God I hope I am wrong about this but to quote a popular movie hero, 'I've got a bad feeling about this'.

I have to say I would be feeling a lot better about it if we get some reassurances from UDE about how this will not be affecting wow tcg, prices, UDE as a viable company, UDE employer jobs etc etc.

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Team Scoop We have already given up - have you?

Well, the fact that SE posted the link to the Lawsuit makes things look a bit brighter. Its looks like UDE is fighting back.

But yes, this all is a bit worrying, but UDE does have lots of other irons in the fire.

Cheers.

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Come play at C & Js in Newark, CA

Is this possibly a cause of some of the UDE layoffs recently?

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Chris "Jedion" Reilkoff

1664869:

Is this possibly a cause of some of the UDE layoffs recently?

A most certain possibility. Now, as someone with absolutely no clue about any of this law stuff, is it possible for UDE to keep YGO without Konami's compliance, or have Konami's request overruled?

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Level 0 Judge (Because apparently under 16 year olds can't get Judge certificates =/)
The Official WoW TCG Forums Cross-Dressing Englishman From Hawaii

This doesn't surprise me.  Konami doesn't have anything going for them right now.  Silent Hill hasn't been relevant in years. MGS4 was an amazing game but sold poorly when you figure in its production costs, and who plays DDR anymore?

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VsT178.org Duh of Tichondrius

The whole thing just seems ridiculous to me. I mean, does Konami think that YGO's success is as simple as taking over the name and selling booster packs? The game will literally D I E. Any and all "profit" they'd hope to make from such a bold (and stupid) move would be wasted,  and thousands of players around the world will be left with pitiful worthless cards and broken hearts. Not to mention the stores that will have crippled inventory. There's just absolutely no way Konami could actually come out on top by doing something this outraegous and stupid. I don't understand it.

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1160366:

The whole thing just seems ridiculous to me. I mean, does Konami think that YGO's success is as simple as taking over the name and selling booster packs? The game will literally D I E. Any and all "profit" they'd hope to make from such a bold (and stupid) move would be wasted,  and thousands of players around the world will be left with pitiful worthless cards and broken hearts. Not to mention the stores that will have crippled inventory. There's just absolutely no way Konami could actually come out on top by doing something this outraegous and stupid. I don't understand it.

Well put.

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Chris "Jedion" Reilkoff

2147639:

1664869:

Is this possibly a cause of some of the UDE layoffs recently?

A most certain possibility. Now, as someone with absolutely no clue about any of this law stuff, is it possible for UDE to keep YGO without Konami's compliance, or have Konami's request overruled?

It all depends on the wording of the contract that they signd to give UDE the rights to YGO. I would assume that if UDE has good lawyers (which I assume they do) they would know whether Konami has the right to do that. I would guess that UDE knows that Konami can't take YGO away from they and thus they are fighting back.

Also as Damien said, YGO will just die if Konami takes over, they can't support a game as well as UDE can. Maybe YGO's death would bring more players to WoW, it is doubtful that we would see much of an increase. Instead we would see one of two things. 1. UDE hypes up and spends much more money on WoW.(hopefully) or 2. UDE loses way too much money to stay afloat and either goes under or major cutbacks. 

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Part of the CCGs Crew: We're awesome so you don't have to be!

Well, if you look at what they're actually taking over:

"KDE will take over distribution and customer support......."

So, development etc. will still be done by UDE, and presumably they'll get lots of money from KDE for KDE to do distribution and customer support.

I've no idea how the lawsuit plays into all this though.

Cheers.

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Come play at C & Js in Newark, CA

1189990:

Well, if you look at what they're actually taking over:

"KDE will take over distribution and customer support......."

So, development etc. will still be done by UDE, and presumably they'll get lots of money from KDE for KDE to do distribution and customer support.

I've no idea how the lawsuit plays into all this though.

Cheers.

Accually I would argue that they are taking everything away from UDE. It accually said that KDE will take over all operational and business aspects. I assume business aspects refer to all money being made off of the game.

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Part of the CCGs Crew: We're awesome so you don't have to be!

I guess UDE needs to refocus here:

http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/dinoking/en/

Cheers.

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Come play at C & Js in Newark, CA

This is going to be really bad for stores and TO's sitting with tons of stock in YGO packs and singles, particularly UDE's PTOs. Apparently, PTOs have already started canceling YGO Regionals slated for this weekend. Also, I'm assuming that Konami doesn't have the infrastructure to get OP up and running asap so even if they don't do like Nintendo did with Pokemon and only allow the product that they produce, the lull in and uncertainty of upcoming OP programs is bound to have a bad impact on sales.

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Highest-rated player in Northwest Brooklyn

Correct me if I'm wrong (I've never played the game) but I was always under the impression that UDE doesn't do any kind of developing for yu-gi-oh.  All they do is distribute and run organized play.  So this is what Konami is taking away.  The game could go on just as it was before, but instead of upper deck making and distributing the cards, Konami would.  Instead of upper deck hosting tournaments, Konami would.  Of course this is a huge change but it's not like they are going to make every current card in existence useless.

1494572:

Correct me if I'm wrong (I've never played the game) but I was always under the impression that UDE doesn't do any kind of developing for yu-gi-oh. All they do is distribute and run organized play. So this is what Konami is taking away. The game could go on just as it was before, but instead of upper deck making and distributing the cards, Konami would. Instead of upper deck hosting tournaments, Konami would. Of course this is a huge change but it's not like they are going to make every current card in existence useless.

I tried to decipher some of the chatter on UDE YGO forums and apparently if they combine the TCG (made by UDE for N.America/Europe) with what they call the OCG (Official Card Game, made by Konami for Asia) as has been rumored as Konami's intent, it somehow destroys the value of the more valuable TCG cards. It doesn't make a lick of sense to me but obviously there is some player/collector anxiety there.

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Highest-rated player in Northwest Brooklyn