Thread:Andrewds1021/@comment-27017932-20170430184132/@comment-9605025-20170611221617

Weird, I only just now got a notification about your reply.

To answer your question, I am not sure which came first but there are anime, manga, and games. The core game is the card game. However, they have produced other games using the theme including but not limited to PC and gaming console variants of the card game. They also produce themed merchandise such as shirts and figurines. They even worked with Hasbro to produce a Yu-Gi-Oh!-themed Monopoly game board. They have produced several movies but only the first one saw relatively wide-spread screenings. The most recent one was released for general screenings but few theaters actually showed it. As for the other movies, they were all limited screenings with tickets purchased from the game company itself.

As I mentioned, the card game is the core game. They hold official local, regional, national, and international tournaments (although I don't participate). There are also quite a few unofficial tournaments as well.

The "brand", for lack of a better term, is actually managed by two companies. One is the originator of the content and the other is Konami, an American company that specializes in importing foreign media. My understanding is that Konami pays some royalties to the original company in exchange for the base content and complete control of distribution in the Americas as well as a few other English-speaking countries. This means they actually have the right to alter card effects, not print cards, make new cards, and alter production rarities. Because of this, the card game is actually divided into two separate "leagues", TCG and OCG.

The game previously lacked a sufficient official online platform for playing the game. However, this changed when Konami released the mobile application, Duel Generation. They then released Duel Links which, despite not being a full version of the game, has received arguably more attention. At the very least, they have chosen to advertise it on platforms such as YouTube. In comparison, they have done no advertising for the former.

Regardless, the card game is considered to be a competitor to both Pokémon and Magic the Gathering. (Wow! I didn't realize IE autocorrects "Pokemon" to "Pokémon".)

Edit:

It appears I was mistaken. Konami is the Japanese company and the American equivalent is Upper Deck Entertainment.