Yu-Gi-Oh! Duels Your Way at New York Comedian Con

KONAMI's sales floor was booming at this year's New York Comedian Con. Dedicated to all issues Yu-Gi-Oh! , integrated several demonstration stations for video games Rush Duel , Grasp Duel , Cross Duel It is Duel Hyperlinks , in addition to a space for selling photos, several tables for aggressive card game matches, a gacha machine with prizes and, resulting from all of the above, an extensive line of participants who got involved in the whole thing.

Considering that different companies were waiting in line to fight Cross Duel, or tried to win one of several prizes – including a new replacement OLED model – I was lucky enough to get a guided tour of the entire sales space, courtesy of KONAMI R&D affiliate Billy Brake. 

Our first stop was the demonstration station Rush Duel: Daybreak of the Battle Royale , an exclusive Swap set on this planet of Yu-Gi-Oh! Seven animes. Including characters and scenarios from the present, plus 350 cards, it's a super game for fans familiar with the Sevens . At the same time, it includes a tutorial mode that makes it easier for new players to understand the advanced rules of the universe of buying and selling cards. Yu-Gi-Oh . It's "good for a beginner sport," Brake said.

Next was the free title Grasp Duel . Available on PC, Swap, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Android and iOS, it is “the closest thing to our buy and sell card game that you can play in digital format on all platforms” in response to Brake. Thanks to a great solo mode, a helpful tutorial, and online play that supports both casual and ranked matches, the game has racked up 40 million downloads. “I know everyone is really pleased with the performance of the Grasp Duel “, continued Brake. “We had a lot of people streaming on Twitch when it first came out. For me personally, I just want to see people having fun with the game. I’m a huge Yu-Gi-Oh fan.” !First of all, if people can find a way to enjoy this with each other and play online against each other… that's my line [of success]. We've done a great job if people are having fun.”

Our third vacation spot was the sport I used to be most curious about: Cross Duel . The most recent addition to the Yu-Gi-Oh! online home game, Cross Duelrepresents a primer for the sequel: four-player multiplayer. Here's how it works: Each of the 4 players, on their tablets or smart devices, will deploy their playing cards from their home base onto one of several lanes. Each character or monster on the cardboard will march towards different creatures, deployed by rival players, and try to defeat them. Alternatively, you can play a card to set a defensive posture to protect your HQ. After a set number of rounds, the last participant standing with a preserved base wins. “I’ve been having a lot of fun with this,” Brake commented. “You can see all these features from Yu-Gi-Oh!, but in a whole new way. You must use playing cards as you have never used them before.”

The final stop was the Duel Hyperlinks , the oldest sport in the group. Although it was re-released in 2016, it is now obsolete due to a significant update that lasted two weeks. This change introduced the digital universe of Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime for the game, along with Hyperlink Summoning and new quests and playing cards. Brake attributed these additions to a current resurgence in the sport. “As fast as the world VRAINS was released, many people started participating, wanting to take a look at the new playing cards.”

From my dialogue with Brake, a combination of recent games and frequent content updates seems to be the secret to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. And while he couldn't preview specific titles or the timing of future post-launch updates, he was confident that KONAMI would be pushing out a gradual stream of content. “I can tell you that we are always working hard to keep things exciting for our players and make sure they have something to do across all of our titles. Nothing will be left behind.”

After my time in the KONAMI sales space, I really feel like the outlook of Yu-Gi-Oh! video games is as rich and rewarding as it has ever been. It is also extremely numerous, as a result of the accessibility of the Rush Duel , from the depth of the Grasp Duel , of the innovation of Cross Duel and the reliability of the Duel Hyperlinks . In Brake's words, “There are more ways to play Yu-Gi-Oh! Now more than ever.”