RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesIf there's one statement that has plagued almost every trading card game out there, it's got to be this age-old question: is [insert game name here] dying? Even Magic: The Gathering faces similar criticism over its expansion into crossover IP and deluge of new cards. So it's no surprise that Star Wars: Unlimited has been met with similar questions.
Although it's just a few years old, Star Wars Unlimited hardly feels like a game that's going to crash and burn overnight. It was met with high praise when it debuted in 2024 , with many highlighting its fast, innovative combat and stellar art. Subsequent updates have also managed to generate plenty of hype as the trading card game expands to encompass more of the Star Wars timeline. The game's publisher, Fantasy Flight Games, has even managed to cultivate a healthy competitive scene, culminating in a Galactic Championship tournament in Las Vegas last weekend where several new sets were announced. Several qualifier events are already planned for the rest of 2026 and beyond.
That said, there is a fair amount of well-thought-out, robust criticism of the game's lifespan. For one thing, Star Wars isn't quite the juggernaut it used to be in the entertainment world, and for another, there is concern that the game isn't finding its place in most local game stores due to free-to-play digital competitors like Karabast allowing players to try the game without physically purchasing cards. The introduction of carbonite packs — booster packs with more premium cards targeted at collectors — has also destroyed the value of regular packs.
But when Polygon posed this question to Star Wars Unlimited 's senior design lead Danny Schaefer and game designer John Leo, both reassured us that the sentiment that SWU was dying is far from the truth. While that's not a particularly surprising claim from the game's designers, Schaefer went on to express that SWU isn't just a game for Fantasy Flight Games, the tabletop game developer behind the popular Star Wars trading card game, this is the company's "forever game."
"When I first started designing this game, I was working with Jim Cartwright, who is now very high up at Fantasy Flight Games," Schaefer said. "And what he always says—and I agree—is that Unlimited is FFG's forever game. That's the one that we're going to keep coming out with new stuff for, and it's going to be the backbone of what FFG is about."
With four new sets (six, if you count the Twin Suns mini-sets) planned for 2027, it doesn't look as though players will have to be concerned about the game dying any time soon. Beyond that, Schaefer confirmed that the team is already working on set designs that won't release until "the end of 2028" and that they are currently "brainstorming ideas for 2029."
"There's no end in sight for Star Wars: Unlimited ," Schaefer said. "We're so confident in it. The future is unlimited. There's going to be some really cool stuff coming that people won't expect."
Whether this will reassure fans remains to be seen, but as Leo tells us during our time together, he is perfectly happy to "keep proving everybody wrong" who doubt SWU's future.
"We are going to keep making terrific products, terrific sets, and providing terrific gameplay experiences for our players," Leo said. "That's what we care about."
Fantasy Flight Games covered the travel expenses for Polygon to attend the Galactic Championship event in Las Vegas and interview the game's designers in person.
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