A New Emperor Rises

“I am sure this will be a most interesting year.”
   –Doji Makoto, the Smiling Blade

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce that it has entered into an agreement to purchase the Legend of the Five Rings intellectual property from Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG)!

Legend of the Five Rings is a legacy brand collectible card game (CCG) and roleplaying game (RPG) with a dedicated, passionate community and a story that spans the last two decades. Legions of players have traveled to the land of Rokugan and the Colonies, joined the noble samurai and shugenja of their favorite clan, and taken an important hand in shaping the story. Now, as Legend of the Five Rings moves over to Fantasy Flight Games, certain changes are coming to the realm of Rokugan. To learn the initial details of these upcoming changes, read below.

Honor Is Stronger than Steel 

“The queen of ants cannot count her servants, but she knows that they are loyal. Though the Emperor does not know of me, still, I know of him. And it is the Emperor, and Hantei alone, that I follow. With every word and deed, I do his bidding.”
   –Seppun Murayasu

The current incarnation of the Legend of the Five Rings CCG will be complete with the release of the Evil Portents expansion from AEG. After that release, the game will go on hiatus until FFG relaunches Legend of the Five Rings as a Living Card Game®, or LCG. The Legend of the Five Rings LCG is scheduled to be released in two years at Gen Con Indy 2017. 

For players unfamiliar with the LCG model, a Living Card Game offers regular, non-randomized releases that include full playsets of every card. In its new form, Legend of the Five Rings will use this release format, rather than “blind” boosters that contain randomly assigned rare, uncommon, and common cards. Instead of spending their time chasing hard-to-find cards, the LCG distribution model allows players to focus on building decks by buying a single expansion that includes a full playset of every card in that expansion. For more information about Living Card Games, click here. 

The transition of Legend of the Five Rings from CCG to LCG impacts far more than just distribution model. As the game is reimagined and relaunched as an LCG, we will be implementing significant design changes, but we will ensure that the spirit and emotional impact of Legend of the Five Rings remains intact. By introducing a new mechanical design, we hope to open the game for a new generation of players to join the veteran samurai who still battle for Rokugan. Across the transition to LCG, our developers will ensure that the game maintains its pervasive themes of honor, nobility, magic, intrigue, duty, and warfare and that these themes continue to drive the game and the narrative forward.

In addition to the new incarnation of the Legend of the Five Rings CCG as a LCG, we are excited to explore new possiblities for Legend of the Five Rings in the roleplaying space. At the current time, we don't have many details about this, but we will reveal more as the details become clear.

FFG and AEG on the Legend of the Five Rings Transition

Regarding the agreement to purchase Legend of the Five Rings, Steve Horvath, SVP of Communication at Fantasy Flight Games, said, “The prospect of working on Legend of the Five Rings is very exciting for us. The AEG team has done an amazing job creating a truly rich history and a universe with a deep narrative that fans have connected with for twenty years, and we are looking forward to the potential to build on that legacy moving forward.”

John Zinser, CEO of Alderac Entertaiment Group, said, “L5R is and will always be our first gaming love, but over time, we've changed our company focus further and further away from those roots. Our friends at Fantasy Flight Games have staff with a long history with the L5R property and its games, who are excited about the prospect of taking the brand into the future. When we recently decided it was time to end our own work on the story of Rokugan, we knew they were the best possible stewards for the world, the story, and the community we love and want to see continue to succeed and grow into its next twenty years.”

Enter the Emerald Empire

“Understand the Will of Heaven and you make all things possible. Ignore it, and you will accomplish nothing.”
   –The Tao of Shinsei

Vast changes are coming to the land of Rokugan, leading to a new chapter in the history of the Emerald Empire. Prepare for a new era to begin at Gen Con Indy 2017!