2023-09-02 04:00:43
In the early 2000s, the trading and playing card game market was structured around three players who dominate the sales : Pokémon is the leader, followed by Magic: the assembly, and Yu-Gi-Oh. Each targets, to sum up roughly, an age group: the youngest have Pokémon, the teenagers Yu-Gi-Oh and, finally, the more mature audience remains faithful to the pioneer, Magic.
A status quo that Disney intends to put an end to. First card shot by the American group: Lorcana, a game published by Ravensburger, featuring the ultra popular characters from its cartoons, from Mickey to Simba via the Snow Queen.
The preview, in early August, chaotic due to crowd movements, had given GenCon (a game festival in Indianapolis, USA) a glimpse of the public’s enthusiasm for the game of Disney. A tidal wave which was confirmed when it went on sale in specialized stores on the 18th of the same month. “All my stock left in two days. No more shops have them in Paris »testifies Thomas Müller, manager of Uchronies Games in the 15th arrondissement. “Ravensburger clearly underestimated the impressions”deplores the one who had, on purpose, made the end of his vacation coincide with the launch of Lorcana.
Next step: the distribution, since Friday September 1st, of Lorcana in the big brands (which had to impose customer restrictions on the number of packages purchased) and on online sales sites. All those that The world consulted (Fnac, Cultura, Amazon, philibertnet.com, starcitygames.com, shopdisney.fr) were out of stock the same day. Speculation on the secondary market, robbery of a business in Florida… Lorcana is already confronted with the failings of the sector. Internet users even wonder regarding the presumed circulation of counterfeits.
Despite what the shortage might suggest, the strategy of the Ravensburger-Disney tandem has paid off. “The public is quite similar to that of Pokémon, that is to say rather family”, confirms Thomas Müller, who has organized initiation days into the rules of Lorcana at his premises. At the table of collectible card games, no competitor had aroused such demand as soon as it was published.
“It’s far from easy to set up a franchise, even a well-known one. The entrance fee has become very difficult since Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh moved in », analyzes Gilles Brougère, professor of education at the Sorbonne-Paris-Nord University. The card game from the manga One Piece only attracts small communities outside of Japan, while the one from the Harry Potter saga was a bitter failure.
You have 66.56% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.
1693627657
#David #Goliath #collectible #card #game #market
