Could Harry Potter Get a Trading Card Game in the Near Future?

As the IP arms race heats up in the collectible cards industry, Upper Deck announced on January 7, 2026, that they have acquired one of the most highly coveted entertainment licenses of them all: Harry Potter. As part of their deal they will be producing collectible trading cards based on the Harry Potter franchise. While these trading cards will be collectibles rather than part of a full blown trading card game, it does make you wonder if perhaps a Harry Potter TCG might be closer than ever before given this recent development.

Upper Deck’s Harry Potter trading cards will celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Sorcerer’s Stone

Upper Deck’s first two sets of Harry Potter trading cards will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone theatrical release. And apparently they will contain some very enticing goodies that could drive both trading card opportunists and Harry Potter fans alike to the game. According to the official Upper Deck press release announcing the acquisition of the Harry Potter license, one of these goodies is a “gold one-of-one” card. A unique card like this could drive a ton of excitement for the initial sets, especially if it is something particularly iconic and unique to the Harry Potter franchise. Although nothing has been confirmed or leaked about what such a card would possibly be, my bet is it will be the Golden Snitch – an item that is known for being incredibly difficult to catch in the Harry Potter lore.

Beyond the one-of-one insert card promised in the official press release, Upper Deck also shares several more details from the upcoming Harry Potter sets including “iconic Fleer Ultra inserts and original art trading cards” that feature key Harry Potter characters including Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Snape. Upper Deck also confirms that the Harry Potter trading cards will be getting a wide release and distribution, and will be available at “Certified Diamond Dealers, mass retailers, as well as Upper Deck’s e-Pack™ platform.”

Could a full blown Harry Potter Trading Card Game happen at some point?

While the initial sets announced by Upper Deck only commit to collectible cards as opposed to a full game, it does raise the question: if Harry Potter is making its way to collectible cards, could it find its way into a full blown TCG sometime soon?

As far as IPs go, Harry Potter is certainly one of the biggest out there. And as has been verified many times over the course of the last three years in the TCG industry, big IPs can convert into big TCG product sales numbers. Indeed, 2025 alone is proof of that enough, with new TCGs based on mega popular IPs including Gundam and League of Legends making their TCG debut and selling quite well according to data from TCGPlayer. Harry Potter certainly has what it takes to make it as a top TCG were it ever given the chance.

However, will Upper Deck be the one to do it? Given they clearly have addressed these Harry Potter trading cards as “collector focused,” it seems unlikely that a full fledged game will be in development by them. However, Upper Deck does have a few lesser known TCGs under their wing, like the Neopets Battledome TCG that banks on nostalgia for that long running online game. We also can’t forget that Upper Deck did once distribute the legendary Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG – a game which is still considered one of the top TCGs in the world. Despite their known success with that game, they haven’t had rights to distribute it since 2009. Could they once again dip their fingers into a mega IP like Harry Potter and develop a TCG for it? While it doesn’t seem likely, it also wouldn’t be entirely out of the question, either.

Whatever happened to the original Harry Potter TCG?

While we’ll just have to wait and see as to whether or not Upper Deck – or any other developer for that matter – will adapt the Harry Potter world successfully into cardboard, they wouldn’t be the first one to take a crack at a TCG based on the franchise. There was an original Harry Potter TCG way back in the early 2000s – a TCG that I – as a child – avidly collected, played, and deeply enjoyed.

Despite my own fond memories of the original Harry Potter TCG that was launched by Wizards of the Coast – the very creators of Magic: The Gathering and the early distributors of the Pokemon TCG – the game was not destined for success and was discontinued somewhat abruptly in 2003.

That being said, 2003 was a vastly different world for TCGs than 2026. In 2026, the market for TCGs is huge with existing and freshly minted card fans ever on the hunt for a new TCG to play, collect, or flip for a profit. A Harry Potter TCG definitely can be successful in the current environment – at least for a while. Competition may be greater than ever, but the TCG audience size is even bigger. Plus there is a hunger for “freshness” in the TCG world that favors brand new games that often feature inflated prices when they first come out, and hype amongst the community in hopes of scratching that itch for “the next big thing.”

Harry Potter itself is also at a drastically different place now than it was at the turn of the century, with theme parks to its name, a completed book and film series with plenty of material to draw from, a play, a spinoff, and even a new HBO series coming soon. Kids that grew up with Harry Potter are bonafide adults now with more than pocket change to burn through, and nothing quite like Harry Potter has come around for the most diehard fans to sink their teeth into.

All of that is simply to say that a Harry Potter TCG can certainly thrive even in today’s crowded TCG space. But it will have to be bloody brilliant to have a chance.