Launch Is "June 2027" — Three Starter Decks Led by Naruto, Sasuke and Gaara, First Booster Pack "Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!", In-Store Demos in February and 1 Million Demo Decks in Spring
The NARUTO Card Game now has a launch month. June 2027.
It was announced at the “NARUTO: What’s Next?” panel at New York Comic Con 2026 (October 10, 2026, 5:00–6:00 PM local time / October 11, 6:00–7:00 AM JST). The source is an official press release issued by BANDAI CO., LTD., dated October 10, 2026, out of New York.
And it was not just the month. What will be on shelves at launch, and what happens over the eight months leading up to it, both came out at once.
What this article is based on: everything below comes from BANDAI’s official press release “NARUTO CARD GAME Sets June 2027 Worldwide Launch at New York Comic Con” (October 10, 2026). We quote the original wording and say so wherever interpretation is involved. As of October 11, 2026, this announcement does not appear on the Japanese official site or in the English official site’s news list (we record the state of the official site, with check dates, in §6). Product names are given in the original English, since no localized naming has been published.
1. The launch month is now “June 2027”
The original reads:
Following its world debut at Gen Con 2026, NARUTO CARD GAME will launch simultaneously worldwide in June 2027
The “About” section at the end of the release repeats it: “It will launch simultaneously worldwide in June 2027.”
Lining up the announcements so far shows the information narrowing one step at a time.
| Point in time | Release window announced |
|---|---|
| June 18, 2026 (first announcement) | 2027, simultaneous worldwide release |
| July 29, 2026 (information reveal) | Summer 2027, simultaneous worldwide release |
| October 10, 2026 (this announcement) | June 2027, simultaneous worldwide release |
Year → season → month. The July 29, 2026 contents are collected in the July 29 reveal roundup.
The release date itself has not been announced. The release says “June 2027” and nothing more precise.
2. The launch lineup — three Starter Decks plus the first Booster Pack
This is where the most new detail appeared.
The launch lineup includes three Starter Decks led by Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Gaara, along with the game’s first Booster Pack, “Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!”
Three Starter Decks
The Leaders are Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara. Two sentences describe them:
The three Starter Decks, centered on Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Gaara, come pre-constructed with all the cards needed to start playing, so players can begin battling right out of the box.
Built around a different Leader, each deck features a unique lineup of ninjas and its own strategic play style.
Three things can be read from this:
- They are pre-constructed and contain all the cards needed to start playing. You can battle straight out of the box
- Each of the three is built around a different Leader
- Each deck has its own lineup of ninjas and its own strategic play style
The official “ABOUT NARUTO CARD GAME” page explains that a game uses 1 Leader + a 50-card deck + 5 Chakra cards + 1 Summon card, for 57 cards total. If a Starter Deck contains “all the cards needed to start playing,” it is natural to expect those 57 — but the press release gives no card counts (on the numbering, see the card number system).
Gaara being named as a Leader is a bigger deal than it may look, given what has actually been revealed. Of the 38 cards in our card database, not one is Gaara. We cover that in a separate article, comparing it against the two Leader cards that are known.
First Booster Pack: “Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!”
The title is confirmed. The description:
the first Booster Pack, “Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!,” features popular characters from both the original NARUTO series and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN.
Booster Packs contain new ninjas, techniques, and other cards that let players strengthen their Starter Decks, collect their favorite characters, and build decks of their own.
- Contents: popular characters from NARUTO and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN
- Purpose: strengthening Starter Decks, collecting favorite characters, and building your own decks
- It explicitly lists “new ninjas, techniques, and other cards”
One caution. The release’s “About” section says the game as a whole features characters from NARUTO, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN and BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS, but the first Booster Pack’s contents are described with only the first two titles. Whether BORUTO characters are in the first pack cannot be read from this sentence (the official site’s illustration gallery does include a Boruto Uzumaki illustration).
3. The pre-launch schedule — in-store demos in February, a million decks in spring
The road to launch is also laid out:
Starting in February 2027, NARUTO CARD GAME Premier Demo Events will be held at participating TCG stores
a global campaign will begin in spring 2027 to distribute a total of 1 million Demo Decks worldwide
And the next major beat has a date:
The next major NARUTO CARD GAME update is scheduled for Jump Festa 2027 this December
Jump Festa 2027 takes place in December 2026 (“this December”). In order:
- December 2026Next major update at Jump Festa 2027
- February 2027Premier Demo Events begin at participating TCG stores
- Spring 20271 million Demo Decks distributed
- June 2027Simultaneous worldwide launch
Until now, the only places to actually play have been convention tutorial sessions (Gen Con 2026, New York Comic Con 2026, PAX Aus 2026, SPIEL Essen, Paris Games Week, Lucca Comics & Games, Tabletop.me and BANDAI CARD GAMES Fest 26-27). February 2027’s Premier Demo Events are the first step toward somewhere far more ordinary: participating TCG stores.
“1 million Demo Decks” is the first quantity the official side has put a number on. The only product figure published before this was the official playmat’s US$35 price. How they will be distributed, by country, how many per person, and where to pick one up are all unannounced.
4. Two exclusives revealed — and their relationship to the existing playmat is not stated
Two exclusive products were shown for the first time.
Two exclusive products were also revealed for the first time: the advance-release Official Playmat - NARUTO VS. SASUKE - and the Premium Card Collection Vol.00 - CHAKRA Set.
Both will be available only at the Premier Demo Events and select BANDAI CARD GAMES FEST 26-27 events
- Official Playmat - NARUTO VS. SASUKE - (advance-release)
- Premium Card Collection Vol.00 - CHAKRA Set
They are available only at Premier Demo Events and select BANDAI CARD GAMES FEST 26-27 events. Because it says “select,” it does not say every BCG Fest venue will carry them.
We will be careful here. Our product database already lists the NARUTO CARD GAME Official Playmat sold at events since July 2026 (MSRP US$35 + tax, one per person, limited quantities each day, arriving 2027). Whether this “Official Playmat - NARUTO VS. SASUKE -” is the same product or a different one is not stated in the press release.
There is material pointing both ways:
- Toward the same product: both are official playmats characterized as advance / arriving in 2027
- Toward different products: this one is described as “revealed for the first time,” and its availability is limited to Premier Demo Events and select BCG Fest venues — whereas the already-announced playmat is sold at NYCC 2026, PAX Aus 2026, SPIEL Essen, Paris Games Week and Lucca Comics & Games, none of which are Premier Demo Events or BCG Fest
Since neither reading can be asserted, we register it as a separate product and state explicitly that the relationship is unannounced. For the Premium Card Collection Vol.00 - CHAKRA Set, there is no description of contents, card count or price at all beyond the “Vol.00” numbering and the name.
5. What is still blank
In our October 8 article we counted 13 fields sitting at zero. Checking which of those this announcement filled: the product-side information moved, and the card-side information barely did.
Filled
- The launch month (Summer 2027 → June 2027)
- How many and what kinds of products launch (3 Starters + 1 Booster)
- The first Booster Pack’s title
- The three Starter Deck Leaders
- The pre-launch schedule (February 2027 / spring / December 2026)
- The existence and names of two exclusives
Still blank
- Prices (nothing for Starters or Boosters)
- The release date (only “June 2027”)
- Cards per pack and cards per deck
- The rarity system (only card-face markings such as “L” and “C” are known)
- Which cards appear in which product (still zero cards with a confirmed product)
- The Starter Decks’ product names (they are described by Leader, not by name)
- Japanese domestic retail and Japanese-language product information
- The rulebook
The one worth repeating is which cards appear in which product: still not a single card. There is no official statement anywhere that the known Naruto Uzumaki Leader card (N-001) is the Leader of the Naruto Starter Deck.
The release also says new card illustrations debuted at the panel:
Newly revealed card illustrations were shown for the first time during the presentation, and more will be revealed ahead of launch.
But they have not been published on the official site, so card names, numbers and effect text cannot be confirmed from a primary source. We will add them to the card database once card faces appear on the official site or official X.
6. The official site roadmap still says “Summer 2027”
Finally, the state of the official site. All checked by us on October 11, 2026.
- The English official roadmap (
/en/welcome/) still reads “Worldwide release ( Summer 2027 )”. It has not been updated to June - The Japanese official site’s news list (
/jp/) still has the two items dated 2026.07.29 as its newest. This announcement is not published in Japanese - The English news list’s newest item is still “Tabletop.me Event Information,” dated October 09, 2026 (the page covered in our October 10 article). There is no page for this announcement
In other words: “June 2027” currently exists only in the press release, while the official site still says “Summer 2027.” Both are official, but the press release is newer and more specific, so we have updated the release window to June 2027 across our FAQ, timeline and event calendar. We will record it again when the official roadmap changes.
Summary
- Launch is June 2027, simultaneous worldwide; the date is unannounced
- The launch lineup is three Starter Decks (Naruto / Sasuke / Gaara) plus the first Booster Pack, “Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!”
- Before launch: December 2026 Jump Festa 2027 → February 2027 Premier Demo Events → spring 2027, 1 million Demo Decks → June 2027 launch
- The two exclusives (Official Playmat - NARUTO VS. SASUKE - / Premium Card Collection Vol.00 - CHAKRA Set) are limited to Premier Demo Events and select BCG Fest venues
- Prices, the release date, cards per pack, product contents and Japanese retail are all unannounced
The next dated reveal window is Jump Festa 2027 in December 2026. We will keep adding to this as things change, including whether the Japanese official site publishes the announcement.
Sources
- BANDAI official press release, “NARUTO CARD GAME Sets June 2027 Worldwide Launch at New York Comic Con” (October 10, 2026)
- NARUTO Card Game official site, “ABOUT NARUTO CARD GAME” (checked October 11, 2026)
- NARUTO Card Game official site, Japanese news list (checked October 11, 2026)
Source: www.prnewswire.com