While Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel took the digital card game world by storm when it launched earlier this year, many fans forgot that another new digital Yu-Gi-Oh! title was originally announced at the exact same time—Yu-Gi-Oh! Cross Duel. Konami has now, however, assured its investors that the game is still a product that will be released.
Cross Duel was revealed as a unique, four-player card battle variant of the traditional Yu-Gi-Oh! card game for mobile, where players would face each other in a free-for-all format with entirely original rules. It combined elements of Duel Links, Rush Duels, and the regular card game’s format to create something entirely new for players to enjoy.
At its core, Cross Duel requires players to strategically summon monsters in specific lanes to combat the three opponents sharing the field, timing their attacks and use of Spell and Traps to try and clear out lanes to deplete the other player’s Life Point totals. Each Duel has a set limit of eight turns and all players must take them at the same time, along with a slew of other unique rules that made the format entirely its own.
Related: Konami plans to expand Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel with more events, tournaments, and content
A closed beta was hosted last October with around 5,000 global participants, but since then, Cross Duel has faded from the public eye and no news has been shared since that initial test where several content creators were able to record and upload some footage and some gameplay being showcased at Jump Fiesta in December.
Anyone who was looking forward to seeing just what Cross Duel is and potentially giving it a try can rest easy now, as Konami broached the topic during its most recent financial report.
According to Konami, Cross Duel is still being actively worked on and the company is working towards an eventual distribution for mobile platforms. Unfortunately, that is the extent of the new information provided.
This is good news in that the product is still alive in some form, but we still have no information about a potential release date or additional beta testing that could signal that the developers are gearing up for a launch. That doesn’t mean Cross Duel can’t drop soon, Master Duel was shadow-dropped on players around the world back in January, but as of now, it is unlikely we see the game made widely available in the immediate future.
