Pokemon TCG Announces Big Changes for Scarlet & Violet Series, Including Price Increases
The Pokemon Trading Card Game will increase the cost of its booster packs by over 12.5% with the launch of its upcoming Scarlet and Violet series of cards. Today, The Pokemon Company formally revealed the first details about its upcoming Scarlet & Violet series in the Pokemon Trading Card Game. The most notable change is that the price of booster packs and other products will increase "in select markets" due to "global inflation impacting the cost of materials and production." For instance, the price of a single booster pack will increase from $3.99 to $4.49 in US dollars. For context, The Pokemon Company reported sales of $1.6 billion for fiscal year 2021, with a gross revenue of $700 million and a net profit of $325 million.
To offset these price increases, Pokemon booster packs will come with three holofoil cards and all rare cards will be guaranteed holofoil.
In addition to increasing the prices of many card products, The Pokemon Company also announced some changes to card layouts. Most notably, the yellow card borders are being swapped with a silver border, which brings the cards in line with their Japanese layout. Energy cards will also be getting a layout overhaul to provide more clarity about what type of energy (i.e., Basic Energy, Special Energy) a card is and with additional symbols on the bottom of the card to show what types of energy are attached to a Pokemon without having a significant portion of the card exposed underneath a Pokemon card.
A Japanese update provided additional information about -ex Cards, the revitalized type of card at the center of the Scarlet & Violet series. Not only will -ex cards only reward two Prizes when they are knocked out, certain kinds of -ex Cards will be considered "Terastal" cards. When a Terastal Pokemon is on the bench, they cannot take damage from opposing attacks.
No release date was announced for the first Scarlet & Violet Pokemon TCG set in the US and internationally, but the first sets will be released in Japan in January 2023.