Q&A With Mike Dunlap, Head of Sales at Jasco Games
Carling Berkhout
The Future of UniVersus and My Hero Academia CCG
- How far in advance do you have to plan sets of cards?
Making a new card set is no easy task! You have to figure out what mechanics you want to include (or introduce) based on the set flavor or IP, develop and refine those mechanics and cards, playtest the cards inside the set as well as within the broader format and more. All of that R&D work starts well before we begin art creation, approvals or dealing with the production and logistics that are required to make sure it gets to your local game store to enjoy. Overall, we start work well over a year in advance of players’ first experience with a new card set. - Will there be any new mechanics added to the card game to compete with the likes of Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon?
We’re always exploring new mechanics and card types for the UniVersus game, but I don’t think Planeswalkers or Energy would quite fit in our game. Each of these games are unique, and UniVersus has a fun one-on-one fighting game feel that is truly unique to our game. We’re going to keep exploring new design spaces and growing our game into the best version of UniVersus we can be! - The community is eager to know what is happening with UniVersus when it inevitably departs from My Hero Academia. Are other IPs planned for this year? If they can't be revealed, are there genres of IPs to be anticipating (other anime, a return to fighting games, or otherwise)?
We have featured a wide variety of IPs in the past, and we will continue to feature a variety of new (and returning) IPs in the future. One of the great things about UniVersus is that the game and our community embrace our cross-IP nature, and we are committed to making sure that new IPs will fit seamlessly into our game. While we’re not quite ready to reveal any new IPs yet, rest assured that we are actively working on some great new stuff that we will be announcing later this year. - With the Manga set to wrap up shortly, how long can we expect My Hero Academia to be around after the seasons are completed? Also, if the game is going to be supported for a while, are there plans for set rotation or formats restricting x sets similar to Pokémon or Magic: The Gathering?
Let’s not talk about the end of My Hero Academia just yet - we have a long way to go before we reach that point! With more manga and anime yet to come, there’s plenty of content for us to explore. We have recently updated our set rotation (which you can read about here) which addresses some questions about how rotation works in UniVersus. We continue to evaluate how sets interact over time to see if sets need to be rotated out or if cards need to be banned, but we never take any of those decisions lightly. We want to make sure that the UniVersus community can have a fun and exciting play environment filled with cool cards featuring their favorite characters.
Chrome Rares & High Rarity Cards - How does overprinting help a rarity or a card set? Or, does over printing take away the value of the card set overall?
We want to make sure that our game is available and accessible to fans and collectors, but the reality of printing cards (which takes months to bring to market) means you need to make some calculated risks based on imperfect data. We will continue to work to find the right balance between availability and collectability for our sets, ensuring it’s available for the players and keeps value for the collectors too. - How do you determine the amount of certain rare cards in a set?
We have top men & women with fancy titles who work on that! Seriously though, most card sets are designed based on set size, number of each kind of rarity of cards we want to include and printing capabilities. Any one rare appearing more often than another could be intentional because they’re a fan favorite or a key card within the set, or it could be unintentional based on the math of laying out X rare cards on a sheet with Y spots. Without getting into specific examples, there are a number of reasons any given rare card could appear more or less frequently in a set. - In Set 3, Heroes Clash, the Serialized Chrome rares were a relatively late reveal. Who were these intended for as a target audience? Did this match the initial intention?
We want to make sure that players, collectors and even just fans of the IP are excited by the products we make. This will involve us experimenting with things like print treatments, serialized cards, hidden rares and more. We also want to keep some level of excitement and exploration in our game, which means we may hold certain aspects of a set secret. The serialized Chrome Rares from Set 3 were generally well received, so expect to see us do more in this kind of space in future sets! - With the removal of the 1st Edition labeled product in Set 5, Undaunted Raid, are there any plans to do future high rarity promotions like Heroes Clash's Serialized Chrome Rares?
We’re not quite ready to talk about those kinds of details for Set 5, but we have some exciting things planned! - What is Jasco's approach when coming up with XR cards, and how does Jasco hope to increase the values of its XR cards in the future?
Our team has made significant progress set over set in order to increase the appeal and collectibility of our XR cards. We’re really excited about the most recent XRs in League of Villains which feature gorgeous full arts and custom foil backgrounds and we want to continue to explore similar or even new XR treatments in future sets as well! - What is the purpose of the DLC product line in the context of My Hero Academia's run in UniVersus, and do you feel it is fulfilling that purpose well?
The Deck Loadable Content has been a great way to deliver different kinds of art treatments or different cards and characters out without building out a full new card set around it. The DLC for Set 4 specifically feels like a fun way to explore a theme (chibi characters) without making a 100+ card set. We’re continuing to evaluate DLC over time to see if it’s the best way to introduce this kind of content.
Card Reprints & Erratas - Would you consider a yearly or bi-yearly errata card pack / sticker pack that will reprint / revise cards with corrections? Is there any consideration of ever unbanning or putting up banned cards for errata as the game continues to grow? Is there any consideration of improving underperforming cards in a similar fashion?
Managing errata and rulings is a challenge for any long running card game. There have been a wide variety of solutions presented over the years, but I hadn’t ever considered stickers! Ultimately we want to do what we can to make sure our cards are great on the initial printing. As we continue to grow and revise the UniVersus game, we will be exploring options like reprinting older cards with revised text to correct specific errors, but it would be challenging for our playing community as well as ourselves to manage the regular revisions needed to tone down or improve cards. - In Set 3, Heroes Clash, the calls to retailers for pre orders were made long before the actual shipping of product. What was the overall feedback Jasco collected on this, and was the Set 5 "Unified Edition" a response to this?
I’m a big fan of giving folks the information they need to make an informed decision when they need it. The order timing for Set 3 was tough, Set 4 was a bit better and by the time we get to Set 5 we should be in a good place with most retailers able to order at a time that makes a lot more sense. Retailers outside of North America will likely still have somewhat early initial order deadlines as distributors plan how much they want to import, but we will make sure that the distributors and retailers both are able to make well informed decisions. Having a single unified edition is something that makes sense for most card games. The challenges around managing 2 different booster SKUs for any given release means an increased amount of work for a minor gain, and you’ve seen most card games drop this printing distinction over time. - How long does Jasco intend to keep sets 1, 2, 3, and 4 in Unlimited printings? Is there a criterion to discontinue them at any point, and will there be a "last call" when that day comes? Will these sets be able to go to a Print and Play format in the same way as select previous generations of cards?
The My Hero Academia sets will continue to be available for quite some time from Jasco as well as at the distributor and retailer level. We haven’t yet determined our discontinuation strategy for these sets.
Becoming a UniVersus Store - Hey! I've been playing the game ever since My Hero format started and I've loved it ever since! I've really become passionate about TCGs, and my goal is to eventually open up my own card store! I've begun selling through Facebook Marketplace and I currently have a Pro Seller account and store on TCGplayer! I don't own a brick and mortar store yet, but I was wondering if there were any options for someone like me to be able to order product wholesale, so that I can begin actually selling sealed product? If not I'd love to know the steps necessary to begin doing that! Thank you so much!
I love hearing about people excited enough to start a new store! My first role in hobby gaming was working with local game stores and I love helping people accomplish their dreams in that regard. For our own policies, we focus on physical hobby shops. These shops are where new players can learn our game, where a community can build and come together for awesome events. Some advice for you before opening a card store: learn everything you can about running one! There are new small business owner classes put on in many cities, the Better Business Bureau has a ton of great tips, and some game store owners out there will even give you advice. Working in a game store yourself can also be a great way to gain experience and learn if the small business owner life is for you.
Regardless of your future path, I’m excited that you’re even considering it and happy that you enjoy the My Hero Academia CCG so much!
General Questions - How does someone get into the game development industry?
Oh man, this is the biggest question in the whole list!!! I kinda stumbled into the hobby game industry myself right out of college because my mom had worked a previous job with someone who was then working at Wizards of the Coast. I’ve known others who built all the right connections and strove for years to finally break into the industry. Then there are some who have the right skills at the right time and see the right job posting.
The best advice I have for anyone seriously looking to get into the hobby gaming industry is: become great at what you do, and make sure that what you do is something a hobby gaming company needs. Hobby game companies need lawyers, accountants, customer service reps, salespeople, artists, project managers, IT staff, programmers and so many more roles. When hobby game companies are hiring, there are tons of applications that come in. The candidates that rise to the top are the ones that are great at what they do, have relevant experience (if possible) and feel like the right culture fit. Being passionate about games helps, but being a rockstar at the kind of role we’re looking for is better. For those folks looking to get into game design, the advice can be a little different. If you want to get into game design seriously, you need to create games. A lot of games. More than you might ever think. The most successful long term game designers have had hundreds of failed designs - some of which make it to market, most of which never make it off the design mockup. As you create games, have people play them - especially those who can be an honest critic (strangers can work best).
Remember that the key to successful games is how much fun they are. Any game that doesn’t score well on the “fun meter” might be interesting, and the mechanics might be reworked into something that is fun, but no fun = no sales = bad game. Once you have a few games that are fully developed, fun, and get people excited to play, find an agent. Seriously, there are game design agents out there. They can help you shop your idea around to game companies in a safe way for everyone involved (preventing theft of the game ideas by a company or improper accusations of theft of ideas by the designer). You can also go the kickstarter route, but keep in mind that is a LOT harder than it looks.
Once you have a few games (or RPGs or TCGs) published, you’re going to find many more doors open to you when it comes to finding a game design job in the industry. - I hear that in store events are a large part of how UniVersus engages with the community. Where can I find more info about that?
You are correct. In store activity is an exciting part of the UniVersus experience. Below are links to both the In Store Locator as well as the Event Locator.
Store Locator
Event Locator - Hey Dunlap! If My Hero Academia decided to Dunlap a character, which one would it be?
Such an odd question, as I’m not quite sure how to “Dunlap” a thing (apart from my tendency to over-engineer physical structures I build, like platforms and handrails). So going with a slightly different angle - I think the My Hero Academia character I’m most like is probably Nezu (but replace his tea with coffee). My senses may not be as good, but I do have a tendency to teach a bit and prattle on. Some of my favorite characters in the anime are Mei Hatsume (the inventor student), Sansa Tamakawa (the cat headed police officer) and of course, Gentle Criminal.
Reminder
Series 4: League of Villains releases March 3rd! It is a highly anticipated 4th expansion from the My Hero Academia Collectible Card Game, introducing a whole cast of villains into the series for the first time.