Hello Hobby Zoners! 

I have some news for the Netrunner Players who read my Blog. 
Sadly FFG announced on the 8th of June that their flagship LCG format card game Netrunner would no longer be supported after October 2018 due to the licensing terms with Wizards of the Coast (WotC) not being renewed. 

jacking out

state of LCG

This leaves all of us players in a position where the game we love and have played since 2012 will no longer have any new releases by the original Netrunner Design Team at FFG. Also this means official Tournament support ceases too. 

It is quite heartbreaking to hear this news as all of us felt the game would be around for a long time. The news was sudden and not expected at all. Whatever the circumstances of the failure to renew the license are, well they probably will not be known. 

The game holds a special place in my heart, the Android Universe with its Cyber Punk Noir themes gave it a unique look and feel. The asymmetric play style and very original mechanics and the rich diversity in playable Factions from both the Corp. side and the Runner meant you could build a deck and play how you wanted.

Netrunner proved to be very skill intensive and had deep strategy making it a very satisfying game to play. As well as this there was just such a huge choice in how you could build a deck for your chosen Faction ID. 

NetrunnerDB proved a frequent port of call for me to look at new builds and get ideas for my own deck builds. The resource has been invaluable to Netrunner players for over half a decade. 

netrunnerDB

We had just had a release of the revised Core Set version 2.0 and Cycles 1 and 2 were rotated out to make way for new updated cards to take their place. This did happen with the last Cycle to be released. Now also a Deluxe expansion is out soon  to round out our Netrunner collections. 

This will be the last release for the game. Retailers are already listing much of the previous Netrunner Data Packs and Deluxe Expansion as out of stock as people panic buy to complete their collections. Additionally I have seen quite a few Netrunner collections pop up on Ebay.

In closing all I can say is though this is terrible news, Netrunner has had a large and varied amount of releases since inception back in 2012. So to end the games Life after having so much released makes it easier to live with as a player. The game, if you looked at all that is available is pretty much complete. 

There have been 8 Cycles released with the latest Kitara Cycle being the final one. Also there is one more Deluxe Expansion (Reign and Reverie) which is out very soon, this rounds out the game. 

Personally though frustrated and saddened by the news I also will say this. I will not quit the game or sell off my collection. I intend to keep playing and carry on enjoying this amazing card game with my friends for the foreseeable future.

With this sort of thing it is best to be pragmatic. Not everything lasts. Not everything stands the test of Time. The game ends on a high note. The Community is alive and well. 

I hope to see some of you in the future to play Netrunner in the London area. 

Netrunner is dead... Long Live Netrunner...

*click* x 3, credit, credit, credit, *click* run...


till next time Hobby Zoners!