Upper Deck has revealed that it will not distribute Crimson Crisis, the next scheduled product for the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, as a result of the company’s bitter dispute with Konami Digital Entertainment. Sneak Preview events had originally been scheduled for February 7-8. Upper Deck said that Konami had not delivered the product.
This announcement dovetails with the earlier announcement that Upper Deck would not be distributing Yu-Gi-Oh! Champion Packs (see “No Yu-Gi-Oh! Champion Packs”).
Konami’s position is that Upper Deck has been terminated as its distributor for the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, and that it (Konami) is the only authorized distributor for the product (see “Konami Responds on YGO TCG”).
Meanwhile fans and retailers of the #2 TCG over-all (see “Top Fall 2008 CCGs”) are no longer receiving new product for the brand, an unfortunate circumstance in a market where collectible games are already a tougher sell than they have been for years.