At the launch of the application in July 2024, we felt it was essential to provide you with an initial service as you began receiving your Kickstarter orders. The ability to bulk scan your cards, register them, trade, etc., was a crucial step to synchronize the digital and physical aspects of the project. Since then, we have worked tirelessly to improve your user experience while adding features such as the deck builder, access to Board Game Arena, and event registration. However, our planned release schedule for digital features has been delayed by a few weeks. Aware of the stakes tied to these new services and the need to deliver quality, we have decided to postpone the open beta launch of the print-on-demand service and the marketplace.

Both the marketplace and print-on-demand services present significant challenges. The marketplace requires seamless and secure integration of a payment system with the tax regulations of dozens of countries. For comparison, the most well-known TCG marketplaces today typically operate only in North America or Europe, but not across both continents simultaneously for this very reason. As for print-on-demand, it requires flawless communication between our application and our production partner to ensure the entire logistics chain operates smoothly until delivery.

Given this complexity, we need your help to ensure these services function correctly. Internal tests alone cannot cover all possible scenarios, especially due to the international ambition of the service. That’s why we’re reaching out to you, our community, to invite you if you wish, to beta test these new features. Your assistance will be invaluable!

An article with all the details will be published soon. This closed beta phase will be offered to players from many countries worldwide and will begin in December 2024.

A new launch date will be communicated once the tests are deemed conclusive and only when we are confident enough to move to the open beta phase. We aim to achieve this in the first quarter of 2025.

Due to inherent differences in tax management between professional and individual users, we are required to split part of the project into two phases. Unfortunately, this means we cannot synchronize the release of the service for all types of users. Logically, the upcoming tests will focus on player services first, followed as quickly as possible by professional users.

To be as transparent as possible with you, and now that we have more clarity, here are some details about the technical elements that should be available during this beta phase:

• The system will operate in real currency, in € and $.
• To perform transactions, you will need to use funds available in your wallet. If your wallet does not have sufficient funds, you must first make a deposit in your wallet.
• During this deposit, banking and service fees will apply. We are working on offering a discount equivalent to these fees that you can use with the print-on-demand service. (e.g., $1 in fees would grant you $1 to spend on print-on-demand.)

• You will be able to order 20-card packs for reprinting, with a maximum of 15 packs per order.
  • A pack can contain either non-foil cards or foil cards, but not both simultaneously.
  • You can order both foil and non-foil packs in the same order.
• Prices will be tiered based on the number of packs ordered (up to the 15-pack limit), the more packs you order, the lower the cost per pack.
  • Shipping fees will not be tiered.

• To buy and sell your cards, you will access the service through a dedicated “marketplace” space.
• Purchases will be made card by card from each seller. You can select multiple copies of the same card from a single seller, depending on availability.
  • Example: If Alice is offering 2 copies of Card X at €1 each, and Bob is offering 1 copy of the same card X at €1, you will need one transaction to buy 2 copies from Alice, but two transactions to buy 3 copies total (2 from Alice + 1 from Bob).
• Purchases will be instant, in real currency from your wallet, with ownership rights transferred immediately upon transaction completion.
• Your purchases and sales will be fully anonymized–the buyer will not see the seller's name, and the seller will not see the buyer's name.

Due to the taxes applicable on Apple App Store & Google Play Store platforms, along with existing legal precedents, and to ensure the financial viability of the project, we have decided not to integrate these services directly within the app. Instead, shortcuts within the app will redirect you to the web version of Altered, where you’ll need to log in with your account to use these services.

(See: EPIC GAMES “Fortnite” vs. APPLE)

For this first version of the print-on-demand and marketplace services, we have chosen to focus on essential features to deliver a controlled, smooth, and functional service. Once this milestone is successfully achieved for both players and stores, we will work on constantly improving the existing system and deploying additional, more advanced features.

We already have a substantial list of ideas: bulk purchases, auction systems for unique items, alerts when a card becomes available, group POD services, etc. However, we also believe you are the best experts to highlight what you consider most urgent and important. That’s why we are simultaneously developing tools to enable you to actively participate in co-decision and co-construction for Altered. We can’t wait to share more with you!