Gen Con is shaping up to be a huge year for Ravensburger and ComicBook.com spoke to the tabletop game company’s CEO for North America about how the company prepared for the launch of their highly anticipated card game Disney Lorcana. Ravensburger traditionally has had a large presence at Gen Con, the massive board game convention held in Indianapolis every August. The publisher has launched several of the most popular games at the convention, including Disney Villainous back in 2018. However, this year’s show is gearing up to be even bigger, as Ravensburger will premiere Disney Lorcana, their highly anticipated Disney trading card game at the show. The card launch is just part of Ravensburger’s plans for this year’s Gen Con, which also includes the first ever North American Disney Villainous tournament, an official Gen Con puzzle (Ravensburger is one of North America’s largest puzzle manufacturers), and early releases of several other popular games.
To help get ready for Gen Con, we spoke with Stephane Madi, CEO of Ravensburger North America, about how the company prepared for Disney Lorcana launch at the show, plus the Disney Villainous tournament and other surprises! Also, be sure to check out Ravensburger’s full list of Gen Con offerings, including what Disney Lorcana product will be at the show.
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ComicBook.com: Was it always the plan to launch Disney Lorcana at Gen Con or did you consider other events?
Stephane Madi: We’ve always planned to launch Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game at Gen Con; we’ve been attending the event for years and love being a part of it and meeting our fans in person. It’s been a thrilling wait for us to get here.
How was this year’s prep for Gen Con different than previous years?
We were confident that Disney Lorcana TCG would be a hit, but the community’s excitement is beyond even our expectations. This year there’s a new layer of logistical details. It has been enjoyable imagining the gathering of people in line and at the play events.
How are you addressing the concerns that there won’t be enough Disney Lorcana products for everyone? Should fans expect to wait in long lines if they want Disney Lorcana products?
Disney Lorcana TCG launches at hobby stores on August 18 and larger retail stores on September 1. Early availability at Gen Con is meant to help us celebrate the launch alongside the play events and give us another chance to greet fans at our booth. As anyone who’s attended an event like Gen Con knows, time and processing capacity are likely to present us with limitations. We appreciate the fans eagerness to get their hands on the product and are humbled by the support.
We’d like to encourage our fans to limit their Disney Lorcana TCG purchases to one time during the event, so that we can try to get the game into as many hands as possible over the four days.
Are there any events or items that attendees should look out for that doesn’t involve Disney Lorcana?
Yes – we’re hosting plenty of events this year! This includes the first-ever Disney Villainous tournament and other chances to play our board games, as well as an exclusive Gen Con puzzle and speed puzzling events throughout the show. We’re also organizing a special seminar that board game inventors won’t want to miss.
After five years, Disney Villainous is getting a its first North American Tournament. Is competitive Disney Villainous a format you see growing?
Absolutely! Villainous is at its best when players are deeply immersed in the story and objective of their characters, and what better way to amplify that experience than a bit of competition? The community pushed us for something like this, and we are delighted that make it happen for them this year at Gen Con.
Any surprises you want to tease at this year’s convention?
I think Gen Con fans will love our limited-edition Gen Con puzzle that features the legendary Genevieve dragon. And we have a really engaging on-site event planned around our new game That’s Not a Hat. Our team will be handing out mini versions of the game and if attendees film content of themselves and their friends and family playing the game, they can come back to our booth (#2001) during Gen Con and exchange it for the full-sized game.
