Merchant of Cool Trading Cards

When people hear about trading card games they usually think about baseball cards. A more culturally diverse person might think about Pokemon or Yugioh, two of the most popular and successful trading card games. Almost everyone, however, has an image of a popular stereotype when they think about the people that play trading card games. Most people picture a nerd who wears glasses, lacks proper hygiene, and is socially inept. These people are unequivocally uncool. For the gaming company Hasbro it has been a challenge to market their card game Magic: The Gathering in a society that looks down on their product as childish and uncool.

For the last few years Magic has been a thriving business despite its uncool status. For the mega merchant Hasbro they had to figure out how to make Magic appeal to a wider audience to keep it from going bankrupt. To begin with, Hasbro subsidized the Magic brand out to a company called Wizards of the Coast. The first step in making the game seem less childish was to separate it from the Hasbro name which is usually tied to board games. The name Wizards of the Coast is usually shortened to just Wizards which conjures up ideas of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings which are still considered nerd material but is at least more recognizable and approachable.

The next step Wizards took was to make the game a more sociable event. Being a card game it already requires at least two players, thus Wizards has pushed local stores to hold sponsored events to raise awareness. These local events give Magic a sense that it is similar to a social club or an extracurricular activity. This encourages new people to join the crowd because it is a social event instead of two people who are just playing at a table by themselves.

In addition to all of the things Wizards has done to increase the game’s maturity and coolness, Wizards also made certain decisions of what not to do. The popular kid’s games Pokémon and Yugioh created cartoon spin off shows to market the card game as well as multiple full length feature films. Wizards chose to take a different route in hopes of distancing their card game from these two franchises. Wizards has not made any spin offs except for a novel series which explains the alternate universe that the Magic cards are set in. A book series sounds much more advanced and mature than a cartoon show to the average teenager who is concerned with cool.

The most influential move Wizards took was to create larger events that reward winners with cash prizes. With small events paying out five thousand dollars and larger events paying in the hundred of thousands, Magic has generated a world wide audience. The Magic Pro Tour mirrors many elements of the World Poker Tour, traveling overseas to places like Rome, Madrid, and Tokyo to hold large events that have been featured on ESPN. Wizards has spent a lot of money to make Magic feel more like a social sport than a children’s game, and it has paid off. Magic is the biggest and most successful trading card game right now being translated into over nine different languages. While still not entirely socially accepted, Magic has solidified itself as a mature and cool card gaming experience.