Recently, the WeirdCo team returned from an extremely productive trip to Shanghai, China. After an intense week of test prints, collation, and cross-continental collaboration, we’re incredibly excited to announce that Cyberpunk TCG cards are now officially in print — and they’re looking preem.
We’ve got a lot to talk about in terms of our production journey so far, but let’s get straight into what you really want to know.
We expect to start delivering Welcome to Night City product to Kickstarter backers in the first couple of weeks of September, depending on your country. Our aim is for product to reach as many of you as possible around September 1, 2026. Still, we’re targeting a two-week delivery window to account for any short-term regional shipping delays.
From September 10–17, players will have the opportunity to play in Beta events in stores. After that, Retail pre-release events are scheduled for the weekend of October 30, with our full retail release following 7 days later on November 6. Full details about our Beta events and Retail pre-release events will be unveiled soon.
How we found the perfect printing partner
Selecting a printing partner is one of the biggest decisions any TCG publisher has to make. It impacts which exciting foil treatments can be offered, card quality, collation, pack opening experiences, delivery timelines, and more.
So, our production journey started with a careful printer evaluation process. We sourced samples from a huge range of different printers. If you’re one of the lucky people who got their hands on an Alpha kit, you may be able to notice that those kits came from two different printers. Not to mention the numerous internal testing rounds that never made it to the public!
Because of the unprecedented success of the Cyberpunk TCG Kickstarter campaign, we’re in a very unique position in the TCG industry at the moment. We’re a brand-new game, but we need a lot of print capacity, and we want to deliver product to our backers as quickly as possible. With that in mind, we set out a few key criteria for a perfect printing partner.
Our chosen partner had to be:
- able to support our high printing capacity demands;
- dedicated to us and interested in building a long-term partnership;
- technically sophisticated and able to deliver some unique and exciting foil card treatments;
- well-regarded in the industry, with a track record of delivering high-quality TCG cards to market;
- highly secure, so that our cards don’t leak to the public before we’re ready for them to;
- dedicated to quality, particularly during the cutting process, to ensure that we don’t push cutters too hard and create card edge issues, such as fraying;
- a TCG expert, with strong knowledge around color correction, collation, and card stock variations;
- and based in a strong global logistics hub, to support our expedited global fulfilment goals.
Why we chose to partner with RR Donnelley
After examining samples from dozens of printers and making on-site visits to a shortlist of six top prospects, we ultimately selected RR Donnelley (RRD) as our printing partner for Cyberpunk TCG. RRD is an American company with a Chinese print production facility, creating a cultural mix that aligns really well for WeirdCo. They came highly recommended to us, and are already trusted by some of the biggest consumer brands in the world.
In addition to RRD’s leading print capabilities, the company also offers in-house facility-to-fulfillment center logistics, which was a huge plus point given our ambitious delivery goals for our Kickstarter backers. With RRD’s support, we now have a detailed global fulfillment plan in place that involves air freight, fast boat, and even rail to get our products to our fulfillment distribution centers and players as quickly as possible.
It’s not too typical for a TCG to call out its printing partner by name like this, but we really want to give credit where it is due. From our first meeting, the team at RRD has been exceptionally supportive and constantly overdelivered for us. It takes a lot to deliver a project of this scale to the standard we demand, and RRD has really stepped up to make our vision a reality for all of you.
10 extremely productive (and fun) days in Shanghai
In particular, we want to thank RRD Asia’s Head of Commercial, Bonnie Chen, who was an incredible host during the WeirdCo team’s recent trip to Shanghai. Over the course of 10 days we did multiple press checks, test prints, color correction runs, and collation tests. The printers were rolling 24/7, and together we were able to complete processes that typically take months in just a few days.
Our trip to Shanghai was hugely productive, but the team at RRD also made it very fun. We got to explore the city, try amazing food, and have a lot of fun while getting through a huge amount of important work. It felt like a true partnership
By the end of the trip, the WeirdCo team left with a clear plan for delivery, a fully collated set that’s actively in print, and total faith in our chosen partner. Aims and expectations are high, but we’re confident we’ve made the right choice for ourselves, our backers, and our players.
Here’s just a few of the great things the WeirdCo team had to say about our experience in Shanghai, and RRD:
“This has been the best experience I’ve had working with a printing partner. The RRD team is professional and hardworking, and it feels great to have them backing us up!” - Nico
“Bonnie, Lulu and everyone else on the RRD team are extremely good at what they do. Couldn't have asked for better partners to print our product!” - Cree
“It was an amazing experience to meet and bond with the highly experienced RRD team. Knowing they are invested in our products as much as we are, makes me feel really confident about the future of our game! - Estefania
“It's been amazing getting a firsthand look at RRD’s ability to meet and exceed the expectations that WeirdCo and our fans have for printing our product.” - Richard
An important update for Pay-Over-Time (POT) backers
Previously, we let POT backers know that, due to limitations on when we can begin collecting addresses through Kickstarter and Backerkit, they may experience short fulfillment delays. That is still a risk, but our current plan includes fully delivering product to POT backers at the same time as those who paid their pledges in full.
To achieve this, we ask that all POT backers fill out their address details in Pledge Manager as soon as it becomes available to them. The earlier you fill in your details in Pledge Manager, the better chance you’ll have at avoiding any potential delays.
As you can hopefully tell by now, we’re going to be very transparent about all of our decisions and timelines related to production and fulfillment. As soon as we can give you more detail, we will. Again, we’re doing all we can to get you your Welcome to Night City product as soon as possible.
It’s a very exciting time for us all, and we can’t wait to give you more updates in the weeks and months ahead. If you’d like to hear more about our production journey, and our teams’ experiences in Shanghai, check out Episode 13 of the Cyberdeck Podcast today!
Thanks again, chooms.