Earlier ManaNation broke the news that Upper Deck would no longer be retaining the license to Blizzard's World of Warcraft TCG. This was confirmed by multiple sources, and will mean that Upper Deck will no longer any World of Warcraft TCG products.
This is most likely tied to the legal issues Upper Deck Entertainment is having after their recent settlement with Konami over the phony Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and more the recent lawsuit with Major League Baseball.
It is highly unlikely that Blizzard will let the game die, though it was doing well enough to support the Pro Series. Well keep you all up to date on this as we learn more.
Most early speculation suggested that Blizzard would license the game to a different producer in the near future. This was later confirmed by Zarhym on the World of Warcraft forums:
Zarhym As some of you may already be aware, we will not be renewing the World of Warcraft: The Trading Card Game license with Upper Deck. We want to assure you that we are committed to supporting the TCG, and players can look forward to new content and strong organized play support in the near future. We will share additional details about the games transition to a new partner as soon as possible. For those awaiting tournament prizes, we will ensure you receive them.
The popular concensus is that Wizards of the Coast is the most likely organization to succeed Upper Deck in TCG production. Wizards of the Coast currently produce the Magic card game, and own the rights to Dungeons & Dragons, so they have eminent experience in the industry.
The level of change that will be involved in this transition is largely predicated on unknowns, such as how much of TCG is done in-house by Blizzard, and how much is directed by forces outside the company. We will keep you posted as developments occur.
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