Marketplace, Print-on-Demand and Organized Play updates were a few of the big topics covered in a Feb. 19 AMA from the Equinox team streamed from the company’s YouTube channel following the release of the Trial By Frost set. Chief Marketing Officer Eric Dieulangard and Game Designer Charles Wickham sat down to answer community questions and provide insights on past team decisions and future goals.

The first half of the AMA covered questions specific to game design, which we recapped here. After those questions were handled, Wickham stepped away to give Dieulangard the chance to answer questions related to app updates and organized play.

Print-on-Demand

Based on reporting from the Print-on-Demand beta, some orders went well, some had errors and some have yet to be delivered. Most issues with errors should be resolved by time Phase 2 happens for the beta, Eric said. At the moment, the number of issues from the beta would stretch the Equinox team past their capabilities when taken to a larger scale. The goal is to bring the number of errors under 3%. An email notification system for orders is in planning, though may not be implemented for the next phase of the beta.

Currently, an internal closed beta is scheduled for Feb. 26, followed by analysis and fixes, with another related AMA scheduled for March 7. A new definitive date for Phase 2 has not been announced.

Cost per card hasn’t changed between the beta phases, remaining at roughly $1 per card and reducing to as low as 75 cents per card at larger scales. Customs for shipping to North America is part of the consideration of the cost and should not cause surprise.

Referencing earlier answers regarding compensation around erratas, he said there will be some assistance coming for affected players, though he couldn’t share details.

Notably, as Print-on-Demand is in development, Equinox will not enforce requirements around proxies at events at local shops, leaving that decision up to the stores involved, he said.

Including some foil cards in booster packs is a possibility in the future, but making that change would impact the current printing process for the cards. The way that players use Print-on-Demand could influence how the team looks at this.

Marketplace

Developing a more detailed filter system for the Marketplace is a future goal for the team, but isn’t an immediate priority, Eric said.

While partners like Cardmarket or Cardtrader have been reached out to in the past, building a single marketplace is meant to simplify the process for players, he said. Likewise, Equinox isn’t planning on adding the capability to buy digital boosters, as they would then become competitors with local game stores and retailers.

There will be no price limit on cards on the Marketplace, he said. The concept is that the more cards that are listed on the platform, the more manageable and accessible prices overall will be.

“Santé!” Eric Dieulangard, chief marketing officer for Equinox, doesn’t have much to share for world tournament news, so he toasts to our good health instead.

Tournament/Organized play

Eric noted the release of details for the Altered Tournament Sponsorship Program earlier that day, which opens new opportunities for support for community-developed tournaments. He encouraged organizers to reach out to the Asmodee representatives linked in the article.

Online events (similar to the weekly AWOL tournaments) are eligible for support through the sponsorship program, provided that it’s connected to an official store account which is in contact with an Asmodee rep.

Larger tournaments are planned, but Eric wasn’t able to disclose where or when they’ll be happening. Much of it comes down to a question of timing and resources available for the team. The team’s aim is to be able to do the event properly, rather than taking on the project without the right capabilities.

Following on the trend of new hires, a new organized play director will be joining the team in the first week of March. Near the top of that person’s list will be the development of larger tournament projects. The goal is to aim for even bigger events than the Tumult Championships, which were announced Feb. 18.

Tumult Championships

The Tumult Championships, which will run April 5 through May 11, are set as a new standalone competitive event, separate from other national and organized play, Eric said.

The event brings a new way for players to affect the game, as the winning faction will recruit a new card, Kuraokami, to their cause.

Kuraokami has been balanced for the game by the development team, he said. Once its faction (and out-of-faction) has been decided, the cards will be added to all player accounts, whether they participated in the Tumult Championships or not. Kuraokami will come in standard common and rare levels, but will be treated as a “token” card within the game’s collection, meaning it will be available to all players. Kuraokami also takes the notable distinction of being the first character added to Altered without related uniques. He also anticipates that the foil Tumult cards included in the Championship prizes will be popular among players.

Eric said one of the goals for including Kuraokami’s recruitment in the Tumult Championships is to see how players enjoy faction-reward based challenges. He asked that players share their experiences and opinions on the overall event when it’s finished. The team is aiming to find the right balance to allow players to represent the decks they enjoy (as opposed to chasing the meta) through each of the Faction Champions and overall Champion.

Adventure Pass

The development team is looking into providing a full playset (three cards per rarity) of Season 2 Adventure Pass rewards. Eric said community feedback on this has been strong, as the first season’s rewards provided one of each rarity, though the original intent was to provide more. The team is exploring options to see whether they can increase the number of Season 1 rewards retroactively, or if it makes sense to make the change to a full playset going forward.

Either way, Adventure Pass alt-art rewards are treated as exclusive cards, and can only be printed once per year like other promo cards.

Pre-release

There will be official prerelease kits coming for the as-yet-unannounced Set 3, though they will still be more of a beta version, he said. A more complete prerelease kit should be expected to hit its stride starting with set 4.

Formats

While 2v2 multiplayer is an official format many players enjoy, the development team is currently experimenting with it to see how it could be used in competitive scenes similar to sealed and draft play, he said.

Online play

Board Game Arena is still the team’s main way of making online play available. While a dedicated client might be useful, that’s not likely to be a priority until at least 2026, he said.

While the Equinox team recognizes that in-app tournament software would be useful to LGSs and players, there are several projects ahead of it in line for website/app updates.

Judge program

The new organized play director will be working on developing an official judge program. As this is another focus for the incoming organize play director, it shouldn’t be expected to happen quickly, he said.

Demo play

While promo cards have been given as rewards for completing demo play events, that will be changing in the future. The team is working on a new promotional item for players who already know the game, giving more opportunities for new players to get involved at demo play events.

The next update on Marketplace/Print-on-Demand will be an another AMA streamed from the Altered YouTube channel.