Upper Deck & Overwatch League team up for Multi-year deal

[tier1dc]

https://esportsinsider.com/2019/05/o...ue-upper-deck/

Activision Blizzard has entered a multi-year deal involving licensed collectibles for the Overwatch League with Upper Deck.

The partnership will see Upper Deck create trading cards, stickers, sticker books, prints, posters, and memorabilia for the franchised league.

The multi-year deal is set to coincide with Upper Deck’s 30th anniversary and will allow fans to buy, open, collect, and trade cards with other collectors across the globe. The first set of trading cards is set to be released on June 19 and will feature teams and players from the inaugural season of the Overwatch League.

“Collaborating with Upper Deck allows the Overwatch League to offer fans everywhere the opportunity to collect and trade exclusive cards and collectibles—featuring their favorite teams and players—that can be cherished for years to come,” said Blizzard’s head of esports licensing Daniel Siegel.

Fans who attend the Overwatch League 2019 All-Stars event, which starts on May 15, will get the chance to see a preview of some of the trading cards before they’re released. They will also have the opportunity to kickstart their collection with two exclusive All-Star themed hero cards available for a limited time.

“We are very excited to collaborate with the Overwatch League for our first esports deal and to deliver new and innovative products to Overwatch League fans everywhere,” said Upper Deck president Jason Masherah. “This is a great way to celebrate Upper Deck’s 30th anniversary, and we look forward to working with the talented team at Activision Blizzard for many years to come.”

Blizzard and Upper Deck previously joined forces to produce trading cards for World of Warcraft. The partnership ended in 2010, however.

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[Zeldafanatic15]

I just saw this on Twitter via Darren Rovell.

https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/sta...269128192?s=19

As a fan of Overwatch, a card based set would be great, but I'm not an Esports guy, and not sure how much overlap in fan base this will have.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Rootleaf]

Now if they would only add Overwatch sketch cards...

[discostu]

* Try the papaya *

[Xazark]

I suspect this will be a big epack seller, likely drive a lot of esports players to join epack and therefore expand their customer base

[jflartner]

Think they'll have VO Actors sign anything?

[Vargaman]

Overwatch - excited
Cards about gamers playing Overwatch - couldn't care less

I really hope they'd get voice actors and sketches in this set, but it it's solely based on the e-sports league and players then you'd have to pay me to take the cards.

While it's cool that gaming is now a sport, I have zero interest as I'd rather be playing than watching someone else play.

[1992UDFootball]

Activision Blizzard is really going all out burning money for their Overwatch League.

[tier1dc]

Very exciting.

[Chuck Bartowski]

Overwatch character sketch cards would be awesome...don't give a damn about Overwatch League though.

[Rootleaf]

I'm thinking the player cards would sell well in Asia. There seems to be much more of a following there compared to the US. I went to the Overwatch World Cup at Blizzcon just to see what it was like and was surprised. The atmosphere felt as electric as a big college football or NFL game. I doubt there are sketches, but the fact they are even making an Overwatch set means there is hope in the future. Of course if there are redemption codes for in game content this set will be a license to print money.

[1992UDFootball]

Originally Posted by Rootleaf

I'm thinking the player cards would sell well in Asia. There seems to be much more of a following there compared to the US. I went to the Overwatch World Cup at Blizzcon just to see what it was like and was surprised. The atmosphere felt as electric as a big college football or NFL game. I doubt there are sketches, but the fact they are even making an Overwatch set means there is hope in the future. Of course if there are redemption codes for in game content this set will be a license to print money.

I know someone that works for Riot games and have seen pictures of big ass events at I think the Staples center.

It's incredible.

And yeah, you're absolutely right about if "loot" cards are inserted in this product. Loot cards are what carried the failed WoW card game for as long as it lasted.

[BravesFan4Life]

Wow...I mean if its voice actors and stuff from the game more power to the gamer collectors but cards of the esports players? That will be a lightly broken product in the US. Asia it could maybe do well.

[jflartner]

Originally Posted by Vargaman

While it's cool that gaming is now a sport, I have zero interest as I'd rather be playing than watching someone else play.

Heard this criticism of e-sports many times - but isn't this true of most sports?

[Vargaman]

Originally Posted by jflartner

Heard this criticism of e-sports many times - but isn't this true of most sports?

Nope. I actually just talked about this with my co-workers. A video game is something I can jump into at any time.

Can I simply walk outside and start a football or basketball game? No.

Am I good at or do I enjoy playing some sports I watch? No.

Am I good at and enjoy playing video games and can jump in by myself? Yes.

The only times I'd watch other people play video games would be for a walkthrough when I get stuck on a level or can't find a hidden item or if I want to see some tips and tricks/tutorials that aren't laid out in-game.


I'm not knocking these guys for being pro-level gamers, power to them. I just give 0% care about their matches.

[byronscott4ever]

UD used to be the top card maker...now they do stuff like this...how are they still around?

[Xazark]

Originally Posted by Xazark

I suspect this will be a big epack seller, likely drive a lot of esports players to join epack and therefore expand their customer base

Already happening, they released 2 promo cards as part of the Overwatch League All-Stars event, there are already 800 odd of each card that have been redeemed and if you have a look at trading, I'm going to say 95%+ are unrated and therefore new accounts, which is what I think they were trying to achieve.

Will be interesting to see if this results in much of an increase in active users or not

[Seahawks fan]

Overwatch is awesome but watching other people play it is about as boring as it gets. Like others have said give us sketch cards or better yet codes to unlock skins, spray paints, victory poses, taunts, etc.

If all we get are pics of overwatch league players ...even if there are autos I wouldn't touch it at 50 cents a pack.

[Zeldafanatic15]

UD is doing a prelaunch event at Blizzard, it popped up on my Twitter, they're showing off some cards. Someone mentioned they launch tomorrow. Cards look nice, just not my cup of tea.

https://twitter.com/UpperDeckEnt/sta...445573632?s=19



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[finfangfan]

They are also doing free packs starting tomorrow and you can also get an achievement for getting all the free base cards.

To celebrate the release of 2017-18 Overwatch League: Inaugural Season tomorrow on Upper Deck e-Pack®, we are excited to release limited edition 2019 Overwatch League Promo free packs! For 20 days, starting tomorrow June 19 at 9:00 a.m. PDT and running through July 9 at 11:59 p.m. PDT, collectors who visit e-Pack each day will have the option of opening 2019 Overwatch League Promo packs as their daily free pack! These packs will contain the second push of digital 2019 Overwatch League Promo Base Set cards #21-40, available exclusively in these single-card digital free packs.

To acquire digital cards #1-20 of the 40-card 2019 Overwatch League Promo Base Set, head to Blizzard.com tomorrow and sign up for e-mails to receive an exclusive promo code that can be used to redeem the cards on e-Pack!

[finfangfan]

This set seems to be enjoying a decent opening day on ePack. A handful of new users are on the trade forums... even one of the player’s mothers.

[Malavon]

The cards look cool, but $94 per box, while not unexpected, is a bit high given the questionable value of the contents.

Anyone else think it's weird that they are signing as their in-game "alias"? I guess the equivalent would be like Chris Hemsworth signing his card not as his name, but just "Thor".

[finfangfan]

Originally Posted by Malavon

The cards look cool, but $94 per box, while not unexpected, is a bit high given the questionable value of the contents.

Anyone else think it's weird that they are signing as their in-game "alias"? I guess the equivalent would be like Chris Hemsworth signing his card not as his name, but just "Thor".

I think the difference is they choose their alias... and having handles in video games is pretty common... very few people use their full name ever when playing online video games. Not the same as being cast as a character in a play or movie and signing as that character (which would admittedly be odd).

[Xazark]

Originally Posted by Malavon

The cards look cool, but $94 per box, while not unexpected, is a bit high given the questionable value of the contents.

While I can't speak for overwatch specifically, e-sports in general is pretty huge, I can definitely see these types of cards having long term value

Originally Posted by Malavon

Anyone else think it's weird that they are signing as their in-game "alias"? I guess the equivalent would be like Chris Hemsworth signing his card not as his name, but just "Thor".

Most spectators would not know the person's real name, if you watch any e-sports the person is referred to by their handle, rarely are they referred to by their real name so I think it makes sense, I could see them signing as Firstname "Handle" Lastname, but dont think its odd to see them signing as their handle.

To take that a bit further, in CSGO creates stickers for the major tournaments that have the player's autograph on it - signed as their handle, these can be purchased from capsules (loot boxes) and then resold / traded or placed on a weapon in game. This has been happening for years, so there is already precedence for players signing as their handle. I am also confident that when players are asked to autograph items in person the request would be to sign like that, not their real name.

[Morgoth]

I looked at completed items on Ebay and it appears only 1 card has sold????