Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) have been known for a few missteps. The way KeyForge ended under the company’s stewardship is definitely one of the less flattering stories to recall. In any event, Ghost Galaxy Games has acquired the game from FFG preparing for an official release after a very successful campaign that raised $1.1 million from 6,172 backers.
Now, one of the most original collectible card games has confirmed that it is going to have an official pre-release event one or two weeks before it hits retail. The information was shared by Christian Petersen, the founder of Ghost Galaxy, with ICv2, a respected industry publication which was on-site the GAMA Expo 2023 to speak with Petersen.
New Starter Set for KeyForge to Make Things Simpler
Speaking to the publication, Petersen said that retailers will have the opportunity to get a “very limited” pre-release pack that they can bring to their stores. One great takeaway from the conversation was the redesigned approach that Petersen and Ghost Galaxy now employed towards the concept of a “starter set.”
The previous owner, Fantasy Flight, would have one starter set for each expansion pack that was released. While this had its own rationale at the time, Petersen shared that he wasn’t entirely convinced it was a good idea in the long-run.
He similarly noted that this approach added confusion. This was partially admitted in a recent interview by Fantasy Flight, which commented on the release of the upcoming Star Wars: Unlimited TCG. The company stated that previous attempts to enter the trading card games space have caught the company not fully prepared.
These things considered, Petersen said that he believed strongly in the idea of a “single entry point” into the game and this stands to reason as it clears up the confusion someone arriving late to the game may experience when they glance at multiple starter sets. The somewhat fragmented space of trading card games presupposes that people interested in a given game need to be following it actively. This will be somewhat improved with KeyForge’s upcoming release.
An interesting approach is also what these starter sets means. Essentially, Petersen recommended to existing players to not buy the sets. They are specifically designed for new players only and this is intended to reduce some of the financial burden that players would carry as they rejoin the game. According to Petersen, the starter set was built in a way that would only appeal to someone who is completely new to the game. It will be available in retail for $39.99.
Ghost Galaxy has picked some of the lineage left to it by Fantasy Flight, with the company still continuing the KeyForge Adventures line. A brand new Adventures set, Fall of the House of Gormangeist is also coming and will be released with the upcoming launch of Winds of Exchange, the sixth “season” in the game.
KeyForge was created by Richard Garfield, the designer of Magic: The Gathering. The game features an innovative way of crafting decks which are drafted from a pool of cards by an algorithm that creates decks that are completely unique. Part of the joy of the game is to open a brand new deck and try to adapt quickly to defeat your opponent, while other players just enjoy the novelty and freshness of trying new decks plain and simple.
A tournament is also upcoming for KeyForge with the Vault Tour 2023 first launching on July 7-9 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.