Tekken Card Tournament mixes trading cards with free-to-play gaming

Namco Bandai has announced an ambitious product that will let retailers cash in on an upcoming free-to-play title.

The publisher will soon launch Tekken Card Tournament for smartphones, tablets and PCs. This free-to-play game sees players collecting attack cards that can be used to win traditional Tekken-style battles.

Tekken Card Tournament will also feature cross-play, meaning PC users can battle their friends on smartphones and vice versa.

Later in the year, Namco will release packs of physical trading cards that can be scanned into the game via QR codes. The retail packs will feature more powerful, rare cards and new characters for the online game.

The cards also work with the augmented reality section of the smartphone and tablet app, allowing fans to take pictures of their favourite Tekken characters in the real world.

"The unique features of the physical cards being linked with the digital game is an instant stand-out feature," PR and marketing director Lee Kirton told MCV.

"This is very unique and innovative, especially for a fighting game. In addition the game offers full 3D graphics but also as explained previously interactions with physical cards, QR scanning and Augmented Reality which many of our competitors do not offer."