Collectibles company KOLEX has announced a new print-on-demand and print-to-order collectible service to commemorate esports players and teams.
According to a release, the company’s new service aims to support esports teams by bolstering fan engagement and providing scalable revenue streams.
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The new service is set to roll out later this financial quarter with the first cards produced by the print-on-demand system being showcased and handed out as promotional cards at Gamescom in Cologne, at the SK Gaming Booth. SK Gaming partnered with KOLEX last year ahead of the Gamescom 2023 to create an SK Gaming Signature Series Collection of trading cards.
The new print-on-demand service will allow cards to be available for pre-order. These will be fulfilled as physical cards once the pre-order window ends or distributed as digital-first cards with the option to be printed whenever the collector chooses. The digital and physical copies of the card will be attached together through KOLEX’s technology.
According to the company, this will fix one major issue that the card collecting industry suffers from — paper waste and excess duplicate cards.
Card collecting has been a hobby since as early as the 17th century with collectors being driven by a variety of reasons including enjoying hunting for cards, the feeling of completing a set and the sentimentality these cards offer. One study from 2022 estimated that the sports card industry to be worth $12.6bn (~£9.9bn).
Since 2018 KOLEX has been aiming to capitalise on this market within esports, as well as within popular culture, by providing physical trading cards connected to an online site. The KOLEX platform offers social features such as quests, leaderboards, games and more. The company has been active in the industry since 2018 and partnered with the ESL FACEIT Group to launch digital collectibles for Pro League partner teams in 2022.
Mark Donovan, Co-Founder and CEO of KOLEX commented on the release: “Every collectible represents a moment in time. We let teams and players decide which moments they want to celebrate and memorialise.
“These are the Mickey Mantle or Michael Jordan Rookie Cards of esports and looking back in 50 or 100 years we want them to serve the same purpose as time capsules and keepsakes for the sports they represent.”
