King of Iron Hand! Namco Bandai Announces Tekken Card Tournament

Namco and Bandai are putting their combined forces to good use, as the merged companies announced a partnership last night that will see the Tekken brand transformed into a collectible card game.

Tekken Card Tournament, a free-to-play card battle game will launch in North America, Latin America, Europe and Australasia "in the next few weeks" for mobile devices, tablets and web browsers. To complement the digital game, Bandai will be releasing physical booster card packs to purchase in shops in the Spring.

The digital game can be played as a standalone experience, offering King of Iron Fist (or King of Iron Hand?) tournaments where strategic use of battle cards will guarantee victory in a cross-platform environment. Physical cards can also be played on their own, or scanned into the digital game using QR codes. Doing the latter will provide upgrades to character cards already in play.

Shusuke Takahara, president of Namco Bandai Games Europe, said, “We are proud to bring to life this amazing project that combines the company’s core strength in both gaming and toys to create this cross media experience."

Bandai's GM for Card Business, Yuji Kawada, added, “By bringing the Tekken universe into the game card world and especially through this unique project we hope to offer to Tekken fans and game cards players a unique experience."

Seems like a nice little venture into the growing mobile and free-to-play market for Namco Bandai. This could be the next card craze that takes over kids (and your) lives - be on your guard.