Big UNION ARENA News Headlines Bandai Card Games Fest Dallas 2025
Who said UNION ARENA was dead? It got primetime coverage at Bandai Card Fest Dallas, with plenty of new insights into what’s to come for everyone’s favorite anime IP TCG brawler. Below, we’re going to go over everything revealed for UNION ARENA at Bandai Card Games Fest, and highlight what matters most from the panel.
Kozmic with UNION ARENA producer, Akari Fujimoto. Photo credit Bandai.
What news came out of Bandai Card Games Fest 2025?
We actually got plenty of interesting spoilers out of Card Games Fest, including news on exclusives for the English UNION ARENA market, like cards, special promos, and even the big reveal that hotly anticipated upcoming sets will include REAL Handwritten signatures from English cast members.
Bandai continues to focus on North American market for UNION ARENA
Before getting into all of the exciting stuff revealed for UNION ARENA at Bandai Card Games Fest Dallas, one thing that seems even more clear now than a year ago is Bandai’s commitment to making this game as great as they possibly can for the North American market.
Given how popular UNION ARENA continues to be despite what the naysayers will tell you, it’s quite possible that Bandai has been blown away by the reception for the game in North America, and are pouring more and more resources into making this game really stand out.
Here are a few ways that they are doing this.
Upcoming sets will include real handwritten signatures from English cast
Cards bearing the printed signatures of original voice casts from anime are a common gimmick within UNION ARENA, adding a unique feature to rare cards. However, for the first time we are getting actual handwritten signatures on a select few cards – cards also bearing serial numbers (those that are already hotly sought after and worth a fortune in TCG collecting terms).
What shows even more how closely Bandai is aligning their game to the North American market is that these handwritten cards will be from the English cast for the anime. Bandai shared the above SR** from Solo Leveling with such a signature.
Many UNION ARENA sets include artworks that are exclusive to the English version, and we’ve seen similar trends with recent Rare Battle UNION RARE promos featuring exclusive arts.
Going all in on Goddess of Victory: Nikke
The other thing that very much stood out during the UNION ARENA panel at Bandai Card Fest was how much marketing Bandai is investing into its upcoming NIKKE set. It makes sense given similar anime IP brawler game, Weiss Schwarz, made a killing off of their set featuring the IP a year ago (as per ICv2). Bandai is clearly hoping to have the same kind of luck with this IP, which helps explain the unprecedented promotions it’s getting.
For starters, booster boxes will be getting a premium box topper pack with exclusive artwork, while you can also get an exclusive Nikke storage box when you purchase four booster boxes from stores.
UNION ARENA: New Titles revealed
Of course, the big news everyone was waiting on was what new titles would be getting added to the game. Right now, the UNION ARENA English Version release schedule is known through April of 2026 when Tokyo Ghoul will be seeing its release.
During the panel, three brand new titles were confirmed, including Sakamoto Days, Chainsaw Man, and Inuyasha.
Additionally, some new prizing was revealed for the Finals events happening post regional season, and some of these prizes are quite nice. I especially like the playmats you can win based on your favorite anime!
Final thoughts on the UNION ARENA panel at Bandai Card Games Fest in Dallas 2025
Ultimately, the announcements made at Card Games Fest lived up to the hype. We got a ton of relevant information in the form of spoilers for upcoming sets, info on exciting promotional opportunities, prizing information, and even three mega IPs joining the arena.
While I would have appreciated a more natural tone from the MCs (I’m a regular Kozmic viewer and know Kozmic does just fine without having to read strictly from a script), the presentation itself and what was shared cannot be mistaken for anything other than eager support for this game from Bandai. The emphasis on the North American market proves that the game continues to grow on this side of the Pacific, and it’s very, very exciting to see where this game has gone one full year later.
You can check out the full presentation at around the 7:15:00 mark in the video below.
