Konami might slip up from time to time (remember January’s Castlevania NFT announcement?) but the company continues to hit the jackpot when it comes to a certain card game. Initially released on January 19, the free-to-play title Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel has officially reached the 20 million download milestone according to a new Tweet via Konami Europe.
To celebrate the milestone, players logging in between now and April 25 will receive 1,000 gems. These can be used to purchase new booster packs, structure decks, in-game accessories, new boards, and more.
The game has also added a new story in Solo Mode, dubbed ‘The Fairies Who Paint the Weather.’
“The weather patterns they weave become Continuous Spell and Trap Cards, which bless the Field and the Fairies themselves with amazing effects,” the description reads. “Uncover the secrets to wielding the powers of the ever-changing weather!”
While the Yu-Gi-Oh anime and manga series have both remained incredibly popular globally over the past two decades, Master Duel will focus more on the trading card game Duel Monsters and less on the series’ characters. Since the first Yu-Gi-Oh game, Monster Capsule: Breed and Battle, was released in Japan in 1998, 55 more Yu-Gi-Oh titles have followed. Many of these did not see global releases.
The original manga series was written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi and was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump between 1996 and 2004. It has inspired 11 anime series and four films to date, the most recent being Yu-Gi-Oh! Go Rush!! which will premiere in Japan on April 3, 2022. Over the past 20 years, Yu-Gi-Oh! has become one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel is available to play for free on PC via Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices. Konami announced that the game had hit 10 million downloads on February 6.
