A fresh free-to-play online Tekken fighting game will allow players to improve their deck by purchasing physical cards.
Tekken Card Tournament will be available for smartphones, tablets and PC in the next few weeks. It's produced by Bandai's game division - Namco Bandai - and will be on display at Toy Fair at stand D35.
And from spring, toy retailers will be able to stock pocket money-priced booster card packs for use with the game. There will be over 190 cards for players to collect.
Tekken is one of the world's most popular video game fighting franchises, with more than 40 million unit sales worldwide to date.
The physical cards can be used to play a standalone game, or players can add them into their virtual card deck by scanning a QR code.
Scanning the cards will add new characters or give upgrades to current online game characters.
In addition, an Augmented Reality feature lets Tekken characters come to life in the real world (see image below). Players simply have to point a smartphone or tablet camera at the game cards.
In the digital game, players can fight against the computer or go head-to-head with other players online across a variety of platforms.
“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,” said Shusuke Takahara, President of Namco Bandai Games Europe S.A.S.
Yuji Kawada, General Manager of Bandai's Card Business Department, added: "By bringing the Tekken universe into the game card world through this project we hope to offer Tekken fans and game card players a unique experience."
Tekken Card Tournament will soon be available in the UK, North America, Latin America, Europe and Australasia.
