Pocketpair continues to expand the Palworld universe with the announcement of an official trading card game, unveiled during the “Cardfight!! Vanguard 15th Anniversary: Bushiroad New Year Announcements 2026” event. Scheduled for a simultaneous worldwide release on July 30, the TCG will launch with two starter decks and a booster pack, available in English, Japanese and Simplified Chinese.

In terms of gameplay, it is a two-player duel in which players assemble teams of Pals, gather resources and build structures to take control of the battlefield. Demo sessions are expected to begin in the spring at stores and conventions in Japan and internationally, starting notably at Bushiroad Expo 2026 in Chicago, followed by other events from March onward, including Card Game Festival 2026 in Tokyo in May.

Meanwhile, Palworld continues on its path: launched in Early Access on Steam in January 2024, the game reportedly reached 25 million users within a month, and a version 1.0 is set to mark its full release this year. Released on PS5 in 68 countries in September 2024 (followed by Japan in October) and on macOS in March 2025, the franchise is also expanding through Palworld Entertainment, a mobile partnership with Krafton, and a “cozy” spin-off called Palworld: Palfarm. However, the news remains tense: Pocketpair is involved in a patent infringement lawsuit with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, and the publisher claims that some recent patches were influenced by the proceedings.