I’m happy to greet everyone around the world that is looking forward to the GUNDAM CARD GAME (abbreviated: GCG) for the first time! I’m Nashimoto, the producer of the GUNDAM CARD GAME.

“GUNDAM CARD GAME LIMITED BOX Ver.β” has been made available in advance in select regions so some of you may have already started playing it, but from Dec. 14th (Sat.) this will be officially released worldwide. I’m already looking forward to the reactions people from all over the world will have once they play it.

This is my first producer letter, so I’d like the message to you all to include general information about the “GUNDAM CARD GAME”, and the Ver.β, “GUNDAM CARD GAME LIMITED BOX Ver.β”. I hope you will all read to the end.

Thoughts about the creation of the “GUNDAM CARD GAME”

As most readers will know, the “GUNDAM CARD GAME” will be released worldwide in 3 languages, Japanese, English, and Chinese, in 2025.
Previously Bandai has developed other trading card game (TCG) titles including the “GUNDAM” series as a theme.
Among those “Gundam War” is one title that was enjoyed by many and became called by some as a representative TCG for “Gundam”. Despite this, we became aware that the management at the time of “Gundam War” and its successor “Gundam War NEX-A” seems to have had aspects, etc. that sparked distrust in the customers. However, we reflected on and analyzed what could have been improved based on our experience with operating TCG titles for series other than “Gundam”, so we could release this “Gundam Card Game” and a global TCG. The current management and development team members include those who have played and those whose work involved “Gundam War”, so the team has a strong understanding of history up until now. This is being used when overlooking the startup of the “Gundam Card Game” which we are releasing this time, so we hope those who played “Gundam War” will try playing “Gundam Card Game”.

It changes the topic, but I’d also like to talk briefly about how we came to name it “GUNDAM CARD GAME”. During the planning of this new “Gundam” TCG there were various options proposed for the name. Among the options, as mentioned above, we decided to name this new title “Gundam Card Game”, the simplest name we could come up with, because of our strong desire to make this next “Gundam” TCG the definitive one, and to keep this title going as long as possible.

“GUNDAM CARD GAME” Game System

In “GUNDAM CARD GAME” the basic concept and play of the game is simple, power up a Mobile Suit “Unit Card” with a “Pilot Card”, reduce your opponent’s shields to 0, and then deliver a final attack to win. (Watch the game tutorial video on our official YouTube channel to learn about the rules and gameplay in more detail.)
We’ve designed “GUNDAM CARD GAME” to have a relatively easy to learn game system that a wide variety of people can enjoy, such as even those who like the “Gundam” series but have not played TCGs before, or TCG players that do not know much about the “Gundam” series.

We also made sure to develop some special game mechanics that bring to life the world of the “Gundam” series, since we want it to be a “Gundam” TCG.

Since it’s a “Gundam” series TCG, once thing that did not change from the start was the axle, having the focus of the game be on the battles involving the Mobile Suits and Pilots. The twists and turns we went through dealt with what kind of game system to place these 2 axles in.

We test played a variety of patterns for game systems, and gradually settled on the current game system in which “any Pilot can be set in any Unit”, and “setting a specific Pilot in a specific Unit forms a linked unit”. We realize that “any Pilot can be set in any Unit” may feel strange to fans of the series, but we gave priority to how it works as a card here, allowing for the fun of exploring the game synergy of various Pilots and Units. Some of you may know “Gundam War” had a rule not allowing more than 2 cards with the same on the battlefield at a time. It may feel strange to those who played “Gundam War”, but we left this out such a rule in order to make is easier to play as a card game. However, we realized “Gundam” series fans would strongly want to have certain Mobile Suits and Pilots played together. This brought forth the “Linked Unit” system, which gives an advantage in the game to pairing the specified Mobile Suit and Pilot. Only a “Linked Unit” can attack the turn it is deployed, which we can link to excitement like reversing the flow of the game. This gives fans of the “Gundam” series a sense of immersion in its world to see Mobile Suits and Pilots with big roles in the series can play big roles in the game. Meanwhile it gives those not familiar with “Gundam” a sense of which Pilot used which Mobile Suit in the series. In this way we hope it also provides an introduction to or gateway into the “Gundam” series.

There are also Command Cards that have Pilot effects, and Base Cards that protect your shields, which are unique parts of the game system in “GUNDAM CARD GAME” but I will save those to talk about at another time.

Another thing to mention is that “GUNDAM CARD GAME” has rules prepared that allow for 3 or more players too, so you can play the standard 1vs1 battles, 2vs2 Team Battles, and even a Battle Royale where you battle on your own against multiple opponents at once. We made rules for multiple player number options as we feel it will help many more people of various ages, in various regions enjoy “Gundam Card Game” more through offering more than only the serious 1vs1 battles. We hope you will all try the various formats as well and let us know what you think of them.

“GUNDAM CARD GAME” Artwork

I think the appeal of TCGs is not only the game system, but the artwork too. Of course, we’ve put in the most effort into the artwork for this “GUNDAM CARD GAME” than our other TCG titles to date.
For the Mobile Suit illustrations, we’ve asked the same illustrators to provide many wonderful new illustrations especially for the “GUNDAM CARD GAME”. In the “GUNDAM CARD GAME”, alternate art versions, a special charm of TCG, are going to be included. The standard versions will of course have gorgeous artwork, and the alternate art versions will include a variety art styles like some featuring “Gundam” + various artists, as well as those that further bring out the image of the series.

In addition, characters, like the Pilots, have been newly illustrated for “GUNDAM CARD GAME,” and many new illustrations by illustrators will also be included in the game. Doing this allows us to provide illustrations in a variety of styles unlike before. Illustrations for alternative art versions of character cards are of course being prepared as well. For these the various illustrators will be making them with their own interpretation, which will show a new side to the characters, and give it a unique feel that’s a little different from the original. Doing all this allow us to provide “Gundam Card Game” with individual artwork unlike in our TCG titles up until now, for everyone to enjoy.

About “LIMITED BOX Ver.β”

This time we’ve released a limited Ver.β, “LIMITED BOX Ver.β” ahead of the “GUNDAM CARD GAME” release in 2025. For digital games it is common to hear of Ver.βs, but it’s not used much among TCGs. As we want to release “Gundam Card Game” worldwide and expect the reactions from users in each region will vary, we decided to release a Ver.β product to allow us to confirm the reactions of people around the world. Everyone who has played it, we hope you will kindly help us by letting us know your thoughts through the survey released in your region. We hope to include improvements from everyone’s reactions in the full release.

Generally, trials or demos of TCGs are done using pre-constructed decks, but with “LIMITED BOX Ver.β” is made so that from the moment you open it up you can enjoy everything from deck building to battles. For “LIMITED BOX Ver.β” to keep deck building sufficiently simple we’ve only included 3 (all but Red) of the 4 (Blue, Green, Red, White) announced card colors. In “Gundam Card Game” decks can include no more than 2 colors, so you can make a deck mixing 2 colors, or with a single color, so we hope everyone enjoys the game starting from building a deck. You can enjoy opening it and building a deck on your own, but there is also enough included for 2 players, so please invite a friend to try the game and play “Gundam Card Game” together.

About the Worldwide Release

As I have mentioned earlier, we plan to release the “GUNDAM CARD GAME” simultaneously around the world. For Bandai, simultaneous worldwide release of the game is a challenge, and I feel that we will have to overcome various hurdles from now on. Let me tell you a little about our thoughts on our future worldwide release plans.
First of all, by releasing worldwide we intend to deliver information to as many people around the world as possible at the same time. For that reason, we have prepared subtitles in various languages for the videos we have provided so far. However, there will inevitably be a time difference issue when we announce information in the future. For example, when we release content in a streamed program, no matter which time we choose it will unavoidably be difficult for people in some regions, including Japan, to watch in real time. We appreciate your understanding in this regard.
In addition, we plan to release the main products, such as booster packs and pre-constructed decks, as simultaneously as possible. There may be unavoidable delays in the distribution of promotional cards and event items though. We will manage the operations so that cards with new illustrations and text do not end up being unavailable in some regions, so we hope everyone will rest assured about that.

Ending Comment

As this is my first producer's letter, there's still a lot I’d like to talk about, but it will get too long, so I'll leave it here for this time...
First of all, I'm really looking forward to everyone playing the “LIMITED BOX Ver.β”. I'd appreciate it very much if you could let us know your impressions of playing the “GUNDAM CARD GAME” through the product survey.
I'm also looking forward to the day when I can go to international events beyond Japan and meet people from all over the world.

We've also prepared some amazing announcements that will delight everyone, and I think we'll be able to tell everyone about them soon... so look forward to it!

GUNDAM CARD GAME Producer
Hiroto Nashimoto