As the game gears up for its third anniversary, players worldwide are finally getting something they’d long asked for. Bandai has announced that One Piece Card Game products will release simultaneously worldwide from 2026.
Currently, the release schedule for the ONE PIECE Card Game sees a delay of up to three months between Japan and the “English” version – which includes USA, Canada, and European countries in other languages.
This has created an “East” and “West” meta, where the best cards and decks are figured out well in advance. Players in the West often have a complete deck list in mind before they’ve ripped a single pack of a new set. That leads to less experimentation and more rigid pricing for powerful cards.
However, this change from Bandai should mean all products should be released at the same time – whatever the region. That’s going to mean some schedule changes – especially for Korea, who joined the game in early 2024 and are currently at OP-05.
Not much has been shared outside of a video announcement. However, other Bandai TCGs have done the same – so we’ve got a good idea of how this is going to work. There have also been some oddities with release dates that hint at the plan going forward…
OP-14 Early Release Date + Includes EB-04 Cards
Starter Decks 23 to 28 are releasing on June 6th for the English version, and three weeks later on June 28th for Japan. ST-22 was released in April for Japan, but we’ll be getting it in September, after the later numbered decks.
OP-14 hasn’t been officially announced for either language, but an English listing shows we’ll be expecting the set around January 2026 in the West. It’s unnamed as of yet, but themed around the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
That’s about 2 months after OP-13 -Carrying on his Will- which is coming here on November 7th. Main sets normally release every three months, with extra EB and PRB sets coming as and when.
More interestingly, OP-14 will include half of the cards from the EB-04 set in the English release. So, we’ll be getting some of the set earlier than Japan, and have a different meta as different cards are available.
One Piece Card Game Simultaneous Release Schedule
There is no official schedule for the simultaneous release of the game out as of April 2025, but we expect it soon. It’s likely not going to be for the start of 2026 – just at some point in the year.
Japan is due to get OP-12 for May 31st, which is around twelve weeks ahead of the West which will get it August 22nd.
This is all theory, but if each set from OP-14 to OP-16 is released a month early and knocks off four weeks per set, we could see set parity for OP-16 around April or June of 2026. It’s likely that other EB or special sets could be rolled into main set releases too.
Starter Decks and other products should come out at the same time too – though we are talking about Bandai. The handling of special illustration promo cards probably won’t change outside of the timing, as magazine releases are common in Japan but not the west.
Digimon did something similar with their “global unification” of the game last year. They split three sets into two, in what was helpfully called “Special Booster ver 2.0 and 2.5“.
This shift towards a simultaneous release model aligns the One Piece Card Game with other major TCGs like Magic: The Gathering. It will make things easier, since all card languages are legal in the West.
The meta should also be more fluid, as tournaments happen at the same time worldwide. Different places tend towards different play styles and favorite characters. World Championships also won’t need to drop back a set or two to account for the West.
Overall, this is a pretty significant step for the game that should make it more appealing to players. With how popular the game is already, we can only assume this will be another bump. The only issue now could be stock issues as everyone wants their cards on the same day.
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