Konami Just Ruined The Yugioh World Championship .... For No Reason

[@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan]

I live in Washington state, so I actually could've gone if it was open to the public, but unfortunately Konami funbled the ball harder then anyone could've guessed

[@jobejacobs62]

In my eyes, that would be considered a good thing.

[@MichaelSD91]

I live in Washington as well. It's honestly a really stupid decision.

[@jboyzboas]

I think it’s good. It should be invite only. You should have to earn it, if not then watch the live stream. Or get the invite to nats then worlds.

[@TheForeverRanger]

@@jboyzboas To participate I agree but spectators can make an event feel special.

[@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan]

@@jboyzboas did you watch the video you are commenting on? Because the reasons I'd give would be redundant at this point if you did. Also other franchises like Pokemon have going to worlds as a big celebration of the community. It feels like Konami might be specifically sabotaging Yu-Gi-Oh in that way with this, hopefully not deliberately

[@radandpaisley]

- no cash prize - "thats fine, we just love the game" - you also can't come - ".we'll pay an entry fee" - YOU CAN'T COME -

[@matasa7463]

It's a chance for them to hold a big festival, sell merch and shit, make a big wave, and maybe get more interest. But no, no fun allowed.

[@lucario9054]

@@matasa7463 honestly konami is just confirming that I made the right choice by selling my ygo cardboard to get into the one piece tcg, they keep making bad decisions no one expected

[@LuciferArc1]

​@@lucario9054 they should have made rush duels the standard and supported their tournaments more. But oh well

[@evan937]

Lmao KONAMI don't need our ticket money. They rich enough already 😂

[@spicymemes7458]

Konami is self-disenfranchising their own card game every day. A true comedy of errors.

[@jonathanquintan3871]

Yup , if it keeps up , it will be a big collapse, like rock slide collapse if u know what I mean

[@jessebridgeman767]

Thank God Konami isn't alone since WotC is right there with em

[@sagethevvitch]

​@@jessebridgeman767yup, it's hilarious that Bandai, out of every company is doing right by their main games.

[@tsvetomirsheev3882]

​@@sagethevvitch don't jinx it 😂

[@j.w.213]

@@sagethevvitch you cope hard if you think OP is stable and the other games from Bandai are dead on arrival.

[@chriswillis4960]

I'm honestly worried that the 25th Anniversary might be the last. The way Konami has been treating the game feels real bad right now. Really pushing min maxing on pulls. Pushing good cards as high of a rarity with the least chance to pull. A 400 card Mega tin with a really low chance to pull the cards people want. Whatever the hell is going on with the EU with no big events and no speed duel products. The whole thing with worlds. It makes me feel like Konami made the "year of fire" to burn the whole game down so they dont have to deal with it anymore.

[@undeadinside3571]

Remember, they also decided to pull thier cards from stores. Its dying. I grew up with yugioh, but its become so much more expensive and less fun over the years. I miss the old back and forth games that werent just "the goal of yugioh is to not let your opponent play yugioh"

[@littlegalgamer160]

Konami getting worst and worst in every year in there tournament and idk why is happening

[@littlegalgamer160]

And the wcq tournament disappear in my KZbin but it's okay not interested in wcq but interested in ycs

[@littlegalgamer160]

Ya not interested in wcq I think Yu-Gi-Oh will die in the future

[@littlegalgamer160]

Because it's a card game without cash prize and a sport but game so that the tournament is meh

[@shadowmarez7457]

Short Answer- Konami doesn't want to Spend the money. Yet another example of Greedy Konami renting out a small ass room in a sketchy motel so they can just record it. Instead of spending the money to rent out a Giant area with hundreds of tables and items to buy and fun stuff to do , That would cost them Millions, But it would make people Happy. The same people who are investing into their game and spending $1000 on a single Deck.

[@ee822]

It's odd, because couldn't they treat it as a Convention, selling booth placements for vendors and entry for non-players? If they for some reason aren't confident in Yu-Gi-Oh alone holding up the convention, just include some of their many other properties as a side thing.

[@shadowmarez7457]

@@ee822 Exactly, When Bandai had their convention they had ALL of their card games in the same place and it worked. They had Digimon, Onepiece, DragonBallSuper, BattleSpirits all in one Giant arena and im sure they Made money from that event if anything.

[@asdion]

@@ee822 Why bother? Not like their main customers are ever going to stop throwing money at them.

[@6210classick]

If it really is about the money then where does all the money that they get from milking vendors and the player base that buy into thier dumb limited time products goes to?

[@monkeysk8er33]

Players might spend $1000 on a meta deck, but do you really think Konami sees that $1000? No, most of that $1000 goes to the secondhand market. You don't spend $1000 on packs. You pay your local card shop/community $1000, which Konami sees virtually little of. Remember Konami doesn't make cards as expensive as they are, the community does. Blame greedy secondhand market sellers, not Konami. Yuhioh doesn't make Konami as much direct money as people think they do. Plus they hardly make any money holding worlds, if any. Comps are for the community, not their bottom line. You have to set your standards low when businesses are losing money to host events like this.

[@dominicmallano5633]

If it was a small company closing the venue off to the public, it would be more understandable. But for a 600+ mil a year product, it’s pretty dumb.

[@vollied4865]

As someone who studies business and sales, konami has been glazing itself for years. Less YCSes, increased prices, more products, all make the game look better from the outside Less YCSes means the remaining ones have higher player numbers giving the illusion of player number growth Higher prices and more products give the illusion of more money made, and by proxy more people buying product. However if you extrapolate things you realize the game is actually dying, there's too much product, not enough people buying, and the people who are are constantly complaining about bad products bad print runs short prints and the unaccessibility of cards. Konami has been a dying company for a long time, their video games department is a shell, their merchandising is dead, theyre only making profits from their Pachinko machines and even those are only available in Japan. There's also a larger and wider card game market now with infinitely better options now, you don't have to play yugioh to have cool combo decks now, there's vanguard, digimon, Dragonball (tbf this one just got a hard reboot so I don't know about the new game), shadowverse, exc. Yugioh has a lot of competition and except for vanguard all have pretty healthy formats and decent balance, vanguards currently in the same position as yugioh 😂 Tldr: konami is a shit company using sales tactics to fudge it's sales numbers like Disney does to hide the fact it's dying

[@geek593]

Regionals and YCSes getting more numbers in awful formats just tells me people have to go to them if they want to play the game in person. So many locals have folded over the past few years.

[@traplover6357]

eh MTG fans hating on WOTC as usual

[@TheForeverRanger]

Let's face it, this was a long time coming. Anyone paying attention over the last 10 years could tell something wasn't right.

[@sammydray5919]

Imagine citing Vanguard as a viable option when that game went through TWO hard reboots in a span of three years. Like I get what you are saying and I like Vanguard but lets not pretend its all that stable, because Bushi is also a clown company

[@geek593]

@@sammydray5919 He said VG is in the same situation as Yugioh which is true. SVE is the better Bushiroad game since Cygames does the heavy lifting.

[@Real_Infinity95]

This game has so many problems with it that it's become pointless to play competitively as of late. It's too damn expensive, too many sets are being released, There are never any cash prizes because the late creator apparently said so, and now the biggest tournament of the year won't even allow a single spectator into the building. This game is dying and it's boring. There's literally no incentive to play the game or be the King of Games in my opinion. It's weird how an $8 billion company can't even properly do World's.

[@domoru5264]

Well it can be boring to play the actual games in rank mode bc you’re just going to be going up against nothing but the same boring broken meta dick riders that want to say their good just for using meta then want to make a bunch of excuses when their meta deck loses I just play decks I have fun with

[@dustintroydeguzman5411]

I agree, it became so boring. I miss those days where a player's turns actually meant a player's turn and that opponents could only do stuff to counter and disrupt. Nowadays way too many decks can use someone else's turn to further build their boards that it makes one wonder why Konami just do not allow both player to do their things simultaneously if turns aren't gonna mean jacksh*t anymore. NGL reminds me of those days were YuGiOh is still new hence the rules are not polished and extremelly young kids would just be like lay all their cards on the board at the same time no tribute and all and just make up thr rules on how they would handle the rest on their own to find a winner.

[@domoru5264]

@@dustintroydeguzman5411 it’s like oh did I just catch you having a turn ima take my turn during your turn

[@johnm.castillo3163]

funny how the creator banned cash prizes yet the game really goes hard on wanting players to spend $$$. I feel like what would be awesome is if the prizes were vouchers for any 3 secret rare cards that could come out in the future, or PSA 10 cards from past sets i.e. PSV, MRL, MRD, etc. I don't think it would cost Konami an arm and a leg to print out a playset for a WORLD CHAMPION WINNER? considering players invest SO HEAVILY in the game even on a local level.

[@bikerboy3k]

No true athlete or any passionate competitor does it for the money. You're the type he wanted to exclude.

[@blankazure217]

First point: they can make up their money by vendors, selling the vendor cards to sell to public, SIDE EVENTS. Second point: look at how the crowd reacted to Exodia, that is a perfect example WHY to have a crowd.

[@mystrshadow]

sadly I'm sure they do charge the vendors more because they removed the price limits they have for ygo cards (they use to not allow card to be sold for more than $100 or so but then they removed it and everything sky rocked). and yes as exciting as it was to see exodia being played on the big screen, what else was remembered from the tournament? :/

[@BigPimpin1217]

i could never imagine pokemon doing this with their world championships

[@shadowmarez7457]

Konami is slowly turning into what Magic tournaments have turned into, Only the top winners get to go and it's basically like a small club of people who run the show and the players who made it. Kinda how Magic had the same people winning almost every time.

[@geek593]

And now competitive Magic is basically dead along with local play.

[@Aaron-l3l6g]

​@@geek593sad but 1,000% factual.

[@greengandalfziggy1]

@@geek593 WotC has largely abandoned competitive paper Magic in favor of Arena and EDH, but EDH is incredibly popular now and likely more profitable than Standard ever was so it's kind of understandable this is how WotC has directed their game. It would be nice if competitive 60-card was still well supported, Standard sets have paid the price and they either need to pander to EDH players or they're quickly abandoned.

[@Onyxs]

I know we’ve had people say multiple times throughout the games life say “the game is dying”, but right now all the stuff going on with this game it actually feels pretty dire, idk what’s gonna happen with the game

[@sagethevvitch]

Players really need to pull a page out of MTG players book and run their own independent event opposite of the World Championship. Dont let Konami take all the fun and side events away from you

[@rapalborde5211]

Covid killed those side organizations like PPG at least the yugioh events i mean

[@TheForeverRanger]

I know MBT was thinking about doing something in Seattle.

[@sagethevvitch]

@@TheForeverRanger I really hope he does. It'd be a really good chance for all the yugitubers to come together and do something awesome

[@simondegroot2436]

A friend of mine has been doing it on a small scale for the last 2 years or so. Because of covid he couldnt pysichally have a store anymore and eventually got found out. So he wasnt allowed to be a ots store anymore. Now he weekly still does locals and sometimes tournaments with all kinds of twist and its now slowly reaching steady 40-50 coming between the months.

[@johnm.castillo3163]

only issue is licensing. I remember a while back ARG had a circuit series and that was actually big. COVID kind of messed it up but I think it would be awesome at least as far as the U.S. goes. I'm reminded of how the WWE got started, just a lot of smaller territories getting bought up and consolidated. Would be cool if store owners could do the same for the game but obviously Konami would lose market share and streaming would not benefit them. I think tbh it's up to the big Yugitubers to not sell out to the company, which unfortunately tends to happen. They actually have a huge impact on the game whether they realize it or not, even just suggesting larger prize support would be rly helpful

[@Pumiirium]

The world championship could be like THE best opportunity to get new people interested in the game. But then they keep making decisions like these and wonder why not more people start playing the game T_T

[@GuilhermeDiGiorgi]

Oh, it's Pumi, but yeah, game's in danger, they're killing it. I wonder if they are ever going for the OCG's set printing policy or they are gonna see how much they can milk this game until stores stop buying sets or another game takes over. And also if Rush's ever gonna come out for us in the West, it's a fun game. The only bad part is the abilities imo.

[@kpetro539]

What's funny is PAX West is the weekend prior to Worlds and people probably would've stayed in Seattle to attend this as well but guess not.

[@MrEffectfilms]

I don't get this either...are they trying to hide something? But then why broadcast the event online if that's the case?

[@ISAAC607]

It's definitely a cost cut, but they can charge more per entry

[@EgoChip]

There is something deeper going on. They are cancelling product in Europe. There is no YCS in Europe. Now this. I wonder what else has happened that I have missed?

[@dakotastein9499]

In Japan they officially barred all non natural natives from participating in thier upcoming events. In other words even if you are a legal citizen there,you cannot participate if you were not born in japan.

[@dakotastein9499]

In Japan they officially barred all non natural natives from participating in thier upcoming events. In other words even if you are a legal citizen there,you cannot participate if you were not born in japan.

[@IsikPalion]

They’re doing this because their shareholders meetings keep revolving around how to get more people to watch the streams as their shareholders are using streaming as a metric of game health. They want to normalize streaming by hijacking the biggest event of the year into a streaming only event. Be prepared for all the soon to occur announcements of where it will be streamed and what big names they pulled to commentate. Plus prizes and giveaways galore. I believe the most important thing the player base can do this year is a 100% boycott of all streams related to the WCS to really show Konami how backwards this plan was and to continue boycotting their streaming goals until they publicly admit their mistake and make it up to us. It’s what I will be doing and I can only hope I won’t be alone.

[@aiodensghost8645]

I quit watching Twitch, and I bet that's where they'll all be.

[@catowarmeowson9964]

I live like, 30 mins away from seattle, I'm new to yigioh and was hype to go. wtf

[@STEPHxCA]

At this point I’d be glad if a more competent company (such as Bandai) just took over the ygo brand

[@Team-Goodfellas]

It's probably cost. I think instead of restricting public charge an entry fee for nonplayers

[@LordTyph]

...shouldn't htat be expected?

[@arzeenine]

Pokémon does this. $20 per spectator. At first people complained, but then the prize money increased. Turns out more income means more money to spend on your game!

[@WyrmLimion]

I happily spent for my spectator ticket for EUIC.

[@Realblack_m0nster]

wait. you dont have to pay to enter the arena? If thats the case who in the world thought that was a good idea lmao

[@BlockchainWoody]

Fee + pack or 2 w/entry I’m not mad at that

[@TehFoamy]

I wonder if anyone prebooked flights and hotel rooms for this event, just to find out a week or two later that they won’t be let into the venue 💀

[@lacanidjion]

I love the idea of Pokemon tournament organization taking over Yu-Gi-Oh because Konami has no idea what to do

[@CragusMaximus]

​@@Vryporoh yeah. Early 2010s sort of time right?

[@Ratchetfan321]

Magic puts their biggest event in Las Vegas due to bhow many fans show up to GP/magicfest vegas so its a place thats easy to get a hotel and travel to for 1000s same with pokemon iirc their big event is open to all the public also.

[@firerhino8592]

I’m glad I’ve been taking a break from Yugioh. Im done giving Konami money until they do better

[@Deep_mind.]

So much for just ink, paper, plastic and a thin little metal foil, my friend is an artist and he told me that things are really out of control with artworks between artists and konami especially when the drawing idea is initially present and you only need to copy it, we both agree that the only expensive thing should be enhanced items targeting rarness, it's like upgrading your properties into gold level in videogames or something. Shocking 🎉

[@Skru-begg]

Same. Off to Digimon! Since One Piece is also screwed over this year too. Lol

[@firerhino8592]

@@Skru-begg Digimon is pretty fun from what I remember. I need a game though that lets me play on my opponents turn to an extant

[@Skru-begg]

@@firerhino8592 you're in luck. With the Ace cards and more effects let you respond on opponent's turn

[@GhostlyGhost333]

Is smells like a bad ending for Yugioh. And I’m not talking about hygiene. I could be wrong, but this might just be the beginning.

[@hank01000]

Wow It’s like Yugi and his friends going to duelist kingdom and having all his friends left behind instead of sneaking in.. bad decisions by Konami

[@PendBestDeck151]

Whats crazy is Konami Board of directors were asking how to fix the game for the better....and the limit Worlds venue and restrict japanese players unless you have FULL citizenship. Work visa? Teacher? Government contract or military? Nope. Better live here permanently with nowhere else to ever go. Doesn't matter if you're an active member of society. How does this better the game? My only guess about worlds is saving money before paying for all this animation and animation studio for what we all saw at the Tokyo Dome. Anime, Master Duel VR and the resources to sustain them. Hopefully 🙏

[@GuilhermeDiGiorgi]

About Japan's restriction, I guess that they want a Japanese person to represent the region. Imagine an American taking Japan's spot in World's. A Japanese game having no Japanese representative would make Japanese players sad. You could argue that it was their fault for not being good so a foreigner took their place, but it is their game, so they can put some selfish rules, I suppose.

[@Ratchetfan321]

@@GuilhermeDiGiorgi yet no other game does this? Shows corruption in the competition scene.

[@GuilhermeDiGiorgi]

@@Ratchetfan321 That's why I said it's selfish

[@pawjabes2847]

they just know this fanbase will never boycott

[@Lord_Commissar]

Remember kids, if you ever heard a YuGiOh player saying that the game is ruined or that he is done with it, he is buying 3 booster boxes at the same time. I agree with everything in the video BUT Konami is NOT fumbling anything. If you still playing and buying cards that all that matters to them not your opinion. The game has been running for years with no sign of slowing down(yet). You invested to much on the game is to late to quit now.

[@admontblanc]

Lol, from the fact that I've heard this stuff for over a decade now you're probably not far off from the truth.

[@aiodensghost8645]

It's called the Sunk-Cost fallacy. Yugioh didn't get me, M:TG didn't get me... Destiny and Destiny 2 was the trap for me...

[@Lord_Commissar]

@aiodensghost8645 Mine was MTG, Warhammer 40k and in a lesser extend League of Legends.

[@ebonyangel951]

As someone living in Japan and went to the venue to say hi to American judges, It would seem that Konami only utilized a few meeting rooms instead of a main event hall for the WCS 2023, the reasons why are unknown, probably to save money. WCS 2024 will likely do the same: renting out a number of small meeting rooms instead of a massive space. Another point of note is Konami Japan's new change for Japan Nationals 2024: Only Japanese national citizens can participate, so any Foreign duelists living in Japan for school or work are not allowed to participate in the Qualifier events representing Japan, nor presumably could they play in their region of origin because they aren't currently living there. It's a small subsect of the community affected, but still an unfair decision to intentionally exclude those people who want to play.

[@A88mph]

I wish Konami would make new WCS games.

[@PKSparkxxDH]

I've given up on YGO until things change. I'm sick of the meta, sick of how Konami treats the community, sick of events getting no coverage, and sick of the predatory consumer practices on every version of the game. Pokemon VGC is fun :)

[@Swordsman99k]

Oh god. I'd rather just not play any TCGs than deal with Gen 9's ridiculous mechanics.

[@kylesanders1519]

I went to worlds in 2010 in California as a spectator and the community, other side game events, and a few fun fan engagement events such as the release of the duel terminal and making custom token cards made the event that much more special. Being able to meet players from around the world and having the language barrier made trading and games so much more special because at the end of the day, we found ways to communicate with each other even if we didn’t speak the same language.

[@AustinMarlin-xe4td]

I’m from Washington state in my opinion I think this I have learned to deal with It there is a reason that did this because it is a private event which means there a select few that got invited they’re probably trying to limit the players in the stadium because they probably want to change things up. That’s what I think they want to try something new. I’m sure will post a video about it also I think this is something that people are going to turn into drama like always it’s really sad that there has to be drama

[@randommaster06]

Konami's been loathe to spend any money on Yugioh advertising for a while now. If they stopped making anime for the modern game, why should we expect them to spend money anywhere else? The worst thing is that Konami has been squeezing TCG players more and more instead of trying to expand their customer base. It doesn't feel like the TCG can survive much more, and when things break, Konami's just going to cancel new sets like they just did with Speed Duels in Europe.

[@darylzara1]

Konami should do more qualifyier events since this is the rule they made

[@GhostlyGhost333]

I tried looking for that post on Twitter about the event being exclusive, and didn’t find it. Did they delete it?

[@traplover6357]

Hot take: This cost-cutting is fine AS LONG AS the video broadcast is even more quality (which wont be based on Konami NA TCG's history). There more glaring issues to Yugioh gradually declining among the younger demographics

[@kish45]

It’s bad enough Konami doesn’t host anymore local type of events besides regionals like when they used to do those mall tour tournaments.

[@janithernest3929]

that was a thing damn learn something new everyday

[@maddragon12345]

They still have locals but regionals are very rare in Sydney after 2 years since Kazuki Takahashi just passed away

[@kish45]

@@maddragon12345 I wish there was Regionals or tournament event expos type of thing in downtown Cincinnati at least since the only closest Locals is 25 minute drive from me and the last locals I have been going to since 2016 or 17ish permanently closed on the weekend of Saints Patrick’s day due to the owner making a very very dumb messed up decision.

[@RogueHero]

@@janithernest3929 yea man mall tours was a thing in the early 2000s , i never got a chance to go but i heard they were fun.

[@SketchingHands]

Upperdeck ran the Mall Tours not Konami.

[@dylanbuchanan6511]

Eh, I like to think they stopped it because the protagonist was going to lose and they didn’t want the villain of this arc to get their hand on the newest boss villain monster. Don’t worry. Should be back to normal next season.

[@TehFoamy]

Konami: “Are we out of touch? No, it is the players who are wrong”

[@TehFoamy]

Like I genuinely wonder if Konami sees this kind of outrage and just shrugs it off as a normal thing, convinced that they’re still making good decisions and that "haters gonna hate"

[@nlm7033]

They're out of touch. I'm out of time~

[@automachina]

All Konami is doing is making real life Duelist Kingdom. Its not really hurting my feelings

[@hairymonster6947]

It's a heath hazard to have that many un showered people in one location, they don't have the ventilation for those numbers

[@apizzaparty]

Seattle is absolutely disgusting of a city. Shame

[@LGarci3]

This will boost the attendance of other yugioh events to earn a an invite while saving on the big event for space. Its a win for komoney

[@AshlynnTheFennec]

i didnt see that, wow, that is really stupid Konami

[@Mattador666]

Perhaps they're trying to get people less interested in the physical card game and migrate the player base to Master Duel? I can't imagine them doing something like that but running a tournament on Master Duel would be waaaaaay cheaper to run than even having to rent out space to host a tournament.

[@johnathanlemus5584]

>Master Duel >With Maxx C in the format Nah TCG would rather commit sudoku to end the game than play with the roach in it.

[@admontblanc]

​@@JohnnyFish971new formats can easily be implemented even with their own banlists, master duel already has this every time they run a big event.

[@IsNow-iy9bs]

It happened to MTG with Arena. I hate it. The human interaction between players across a table is the part I love from live tcgs. To take that humanity out of the game sort of defeats the point of a TCG.

[@alexmeek610]

Just a reminder that the rush duel worlds were given proper worlds treatment just like I believe it’s understood the rush duel event is going to be given the same treatment again I think we are witnessing Konami in Japan (who runs and handles the world event?)continuing to shift its focus to rush duel

[@TheShotgunShovel]

Wait. There's no money on the line, AT ALL? The hell's the point then? Especially without a damn live crowd?

[@klaviustanushi933]

Praying 🙏 on their downfall tbh, Pokémon Gives your money if you win, in YCS you get a 20$ card if you win…

[@janithernest3929]

They just don't want Paulie to win again

[@palpadur1112]

they ruined the franchise a long time ago. i stopped having fun with Yu-Gi-Oh toward the end of last year. it's run was not short enough.

[@Bdawwwg]

I’ve been slowly learning Pokemon tcg simply because Konami just doesn’t do a good job with prize support, treating their community, and power creep (idc about power creep, I’m genuinely a competitive player so it doesn’t really matter that much). It just makes me upset that Konami just treats us like shit.

[@nigboz3288]

Konami is leaning the e- game way. Paper yugioh just doesn’t make the same money as micro transaction master duel now. You need to think of all that unused or unsold paper stock. Well upgrading an app and having people buy 1-2 gem packs to pull them is just overall easier and cleaner for them. I suspect by 2030 that paper yugioh will no longer exist.

[@FlareSherbetNatsu]

This and the Japan OCG Xenophobia incident, Konami really collecting those Ls lately

[@matthewhhawk17]

Konami clearly does not care about their players and this clearly shows. What a disappointment👎

[@whales312]

Why isn’t Seattle the city you would’ve picked? I’m tired of events being in the Midwest or somewhere in the east coast. I aint trying to go to indi or North Carolina wtf 😅

[@JRod787]

I live in Michigan and i was planning to take the trip with some friends just to attend and be part of the experience, so much for that, we all got the time off work so now we will just play yugioh at someone's house and MAYBE watch the whole stream

[@johnnybajaxoxo]

At the end of the day, it's more than likely a move to save money. That's it.

[@DamienToxify]

I love worlds Qualify, but realistically, it's not financially viable to go Konami don't even incentivise the players who win world's I wish yugioh had prize pools similar to the pokemon tcg Prize cards are often worthless and it's sad They should be a huge thing But if you win worlds you are usually down quite a bit from travel accommodation etc so the people I know that won have gone on to sell there prize card to cover the cost of going

[@RoyaltonDrummer922]

I think there is a degree of romanticism here. This event would never be like a sold-out stadium, 20k attendees kind of thing. That’s what it sounds like you’re imagining. Like, they’re NOT going to rent one of those venues you cited. It ain’t going to happen. Probably a hotel ballroom

[@justforepic]

no, we're imagining it being like 2016. small crowd of people

[@雷鳗鱼]

yugioh is on a decline in my region as one piece tcg/dragon ball tcg is on the rise, the main problem is konami refusal to give out prize/promo card for the tournament, just mats and sleeve, while bandai is pumping prize card on one piece tcg/dragon ball tcg, hey those mats cant sell a alot when compare to even 1st runner promo card given by one piece tcg the main problem is always the prize pool/rewards, and staple prize, MD wont work for newcomer to convert into irl tcg/ocg and whales are mostly old players, plus yugioh is a complex game to a newbie with completely 0 knowledge to get into most of tcg player already started to get into one piece once they say how profitable it is, and our country just won world championship for one piece tcg, it will only keep decline from there oh ya, battle nexus which held recently only had 98 player day 1, thats how bad yugioh already is currently konami "keep up ur good work" and yugioh will be surpass by bandai's tcg game one day

[@filecro6934]

I think world championship should be for qualified/invited ppl and not open for everyone, i mean... it is an international highest event of the year, ppl should qualify for it and not just come randmly and participate. But I do think that there should be people in crowd.

[@TwoSmoove]

That's the issue. Its is for competitors only. The problem is that it is ONLY for Competitors. No spectators.

[@zenonx1]

Konami continues to fail to convince me to give them money

[@Deep_mind.]

A live stream with many people watching is sufficient especially when a count is displayed alongside live comments, I mean it's not like atending to the event but it still works and it's cool. Handle it unless it becomes annoying.

[@theblite32]

I made my hotel reservations, booked my flights, just to be told "No". I'm just lucky I make sure everything is refundable as a just in case.

[@noobpaints6114]

Every Konami announcement that happens, part of my collection turns into store credit for Warhammer lol

[@agr0nianTV]

Very strange decision

[@galaxygaming9404]

This is actually so sad to hear😢

[@SargeWolf010]

Ngl wouldn't have stop me from going and hosting my own event 😅 I live in Pennsylvania and 2nd I'm not exactly Mr. Event host type so the above event plan is joke 😅

[@metabuu]

Konami doesnt have the revenue or demand to justify a large scale production or event

[@greengandalfziggy1]

I live in the Seattle area, and have been a casual Yugioh fan from the very beginning of the TCG. I probably would've attended the event just for the novelty of it, might've even gotten me back into buying cards and merchandise (which I've stopped doing in recent years due to the state the game is in these days), but instead Konami just wants to troll us. I frequent a couple LGS for MtG events, and I've seen the Yugioh community for these places shrivel up and die over the years, and it's tone-deaf boneheaded decisions like this from Konami that contribute to it. People can only take so much of Konami's bullshit before they give up and tune out like I and many other have.

[@Samusin.]

ngl at this point i am counting down the years that yugioh is still around... at the rate that konami is ruining their own game its only a matter of time before it dies out

[@lip124]

I'll keep saying this, and I'll say it again, yugioh card is a joke like konami is. The playerbase make excuse for them time and time again.

[@MrTranzformer1]

wanted this to be my first tourny oh well

[@fmasxd5691]

Seattle person, here. Its not just Yugioh that's getting the "private only" status. Magic the Gathering's Pro Tour is also coming to Seattle in May. Normally the MTG Pro Tour has a big "MTG Con" that's associated with the event that is open to everyone. This convention has open tournaments, cosplay contests, side events, etc. However it being in Seattle has also caused it to be a private event. I think this might have to do with Seattle itself, not Yugioh, because the same thing is happening to Magic Players. This double sucks because I love this city and want people to experience it. My guess is that the cost of using the convention center in Seattle proper is too high for these gaming companies. This might explain why most Seattle-based events that aren't already established annual conventions typically do their thing outside the city in either nearby by Bellevue or near-ish Tacoma.

[@CrwnTheAlmighty]

I’m in Oregon and we were all gonna go. Shits lame dude

[@DBrownGamer99]

Konomi Can Release 4 sets a month week after week, price gauge cards that are much easier to obtain in the ocg, keep fumbling their own products and not being smart enough to understand the economy is different and spending $100 on 1 card is harder now because of rent increase, grocery’s being expensive, etc. Konomi Can’t seem to do the right thing, make mandatory cards accessible until they fall off, hit cards once they outlive their usefulness, be a good company and let it’s fanbase come together and have fun as a whole

[@bigman94755]

Is it closed to the public like the event in its entirety? Or to participate in the tournament?

[@MegaCapitalG]

entirely, you may not attempt to go to the venue uninvited

[@dovesr0478]

This seems like the kind of move that will be looked back on with hindsight as one of the death knells of the game, along with many others

[@jojosbizarreenchantment]

Mega Capital G! been making the best narrated and talked about YuGiOh! content for years! Thank you!

[@SirFailsalot91]

This just gives WWE Thunderdome vibes where there's just an empty arena and absolute silence as the event is happening, it's not the same having a major tournament like a World Championship occurring and there's nobody there to cheer the competitors on or roar with excitement at a great comeback. This kind of event is frankly the best moment to make it all about the game and its players - have kiosks set up for things like vendors with exclusive licensed merchandise or tables for gimmick formats like Boss Duels or structure deck only duels, things beyond just Master Rule format that can make the day memorable, while having a stage set for the Worlds duels that people can watch live. Nobody should win a tournament and have no crowd to applaud them, but then again, Konami being cheap when it comes to the global audience isn't exactly something we're unfamiliar with.

[@Shawn_of_hearts]

The new convention center downtown was just finished it would have been a great spot to host worlds.

[@DirtCheapFU]

Honestly, being Seattle, it would probably be in everyone's best interest to keep the event reduced and closed off. For safety and liability reasons. I mean, I hear 'Seattle', and I check for my concealed carry permit lol "Oh... you're from Seattle? Well, this is Milwaukee, we don't do that robbing and looting nonsense around here".

[@Leonardo-ms2nk]

This game does not deserve your time or money, quit and demand some change in your exchange for your hard earned money

[@PBandShayne]

I mean, would you really want to be trapped in a venue with 1000s of yugioh players when the player base already has a bad reputation with hygiene?

[@36inc]

I didnt expect to see grubaur in a yugioh video. I guess the kraken really settles in Seattle fully huh

[@chrisshorten4406]

My guess is it's being done for budget reasons.

[@jonathanquintan3871]

First Sam losing his chance at a regular championship due to swearing , to apologize, his opponent didn’t mind it, and bad judge call, now Konami shutting the doors on public world championship spectating/ denial of fans , wtf😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

[@Atomsk2]

Second comment from my first comment - It does make sense - Pegasus has taken over Konami and is bringing back his duelist island! Also yeah the money aspect - they’re probably losing money harder than the video game part of the world that does this kind of thing. Renting the location, hiring staff, food, entertainment and all that stuff adds up. And then the people who tune in and show up are no where near as big as the video game side of things. Honestly they may make a profit but it’s not enough for them to want to keep doing it. Say if the video games spend 40m to set this up and then make 160m they can keep doing jt. But if Konami does it, spends 40 and then makes 55m they still see it as a lost. Because companies are dumb. Also Konami is also bad at money choices

[@SaltmantheCloser]

Reformed Yu-Gi-Oh! player here. Konami is a trash tier company for a plethora of reasons. Including but not limited to TCG, OCG and Master Duel being 3 separate games. Just play Pokemon, One Piece, Flesh and Blood, Lorcana. Hell play the new Star Wars TCG as soon as they figure out how many Goddamn cards to print. Yu-Gi-Oh! is dead af, and that's not hyperbole. It just is.

[@mystrshadow]

my thing is, how much money do they loose at these events. yeah its great and fun but as a business standpoint, they are paying a lot of players their flight and hotels for these tournaments. the public is free. the event halls/conventions centers/building rent are expensive and most likely have gone up. business wise, i just don't think they can afford to keep leaving these events as free. plus right now they now have heavy competition with bandai's like 3+ card games they keep coming up with so i'm sure their sales are not doing so well

[@geek593]

Side events and vendors would allow them to get those costs back and then some.

[@Registeel13Ty]

2016 worlds was so much fun. It's a shame they apparently haven't kept up that type of engagement

[@henriquebecker4453]

I get the impression that Konami don't want to have the physical cardgame anymore since they released Duel Links but could only start to actually dismantle it's structure when Master Duel started to be profitable enough.

[@yukimikuo]

And what's the problem with this? why would I go to a tornament I didn't qualify for? lmao

[@nael_luna]

Konami is ruining their own game other than the World Championship... I know it is not easy to balance a wide spread game but it doesn't take a genius to understand this game needs some re balancing/rules change, with stupidly built decks like Snake Eye which basically does everything however it wants

[@cyberdragon1339]

I'd use this as an excuse to hang out with my best friends who live out in Washington cause I haven't been there since covid started to take effect back in March of 2020

[@galixgalaxy]

5:52 they were dueling in the backrooms

[@RagnorokKing]

Is it weird I see Noone in the community talking about the japan championship rules, especially when you compare it to these rulings and see a pattern of Konami just telling the western player base to f@ck off.

[@tsvetomirsheev3882]

Wait what did I read a comment about no more euro ycs???