The big reveal at Ravensburger’s D23 panel last weekend was that a digital version of Disney Lorcana is officially “in the works”. If I had to guess what that means, I’d suppose it’ll be out some time in 2027. Any longer and it seems an odd time to reveal it, any shorter and we’d expect to also see a release date. Whenever it gets here, an official, digital client for Disney Lorcana is likely to be absolutely huge for the TCG, and I’m now thinking that the card game’s fourth year could be its biggest yet.
A digital platform for Lorcana has the potential to make the game accessible to thousands of Disney fans who might never have had the motivation or opportunity to pick up card packs, build a deck, and find an in-person game. Its arrival could be just the shot in the arm Lorcana needs to keep it from slumping.
The TCG market is tricky to break into and only a tiny fraction of the games that get started find proper success. Lorcana has already done very well for itself, of course, helped in no small part by its attachment to Disney. But after its first couple of years, and a record-breaking 2024 for creator Ravensburger, it did seem like the game might have peaked.
In January 2026, the company revealed that it had suffered a 5.9% decline, and that its TCG had shrunk over 2025. It chalked this up to the investment crowd pulling out, which to an extent matches what we’ve observed – as all of the most expensive Disney Lorcana card sales took place in the first year of its release.
The benefits of a digital release are obvious. Chiefly, it will widen Lorcana’s reach and get more people involved in the game – especially since Ravensburger plans to bring it to mobile as well as PC. There will be way, way more people willing to give Lorcana a try like this – when the computer does all the rules tracking for you and you don’t have to go out and talk to (shudder) other people.
The digital version can then serve as an on-ramp to the physical game. It’s a tried and true method that has worked before. I don’t know if I personally would have ever tried Magic: The Gathering if I hadn’t got in on the ground floor of Arena, and now I’m a tabletop writer and go to Commander nights most weeks.
Perhaps a little less wholesome, it also gives Lorcana a new, digital economy, one that Ravensburger can retain total control over. We’ll hope, of course, that Lorcana Online is generous with its F2P content, but either way, its creator has the potential to make a killing from in-game purchases.
There are some downsides to going digital too. Without proper care, a digital version can start to cannibalize a physical TCG and fragment its playerbase.
But the upsides are high, and Ravensburger needs to get its game out as fast as possible, without rushing it and turning in a buggy mess of course. I really think it needs to have the game out next year. Lorcana shrank in 2025. If that pattern continues, and if we have to wait until 2029 for the release, it might be too late for the physical game when it does finally hit.
And, not to be mean, but some individuals have managed to make unofficial versions of a Lorcana client already, turning out smoothly running websites very quickly. Surely with its extra resources, Ravensburger can do likewise?
Source: Wargamer
