Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. — Local services in Hawthorne

I have been trying to resolve an issue with Konami North America since August 2022 regarding Yu-Gi-Oh! foil card quality and to this day a satisfactory solution has not been reached. The North American customer service team took months to get a hold of despite them stating their response time to inquires is 1-2 business days. They are close to unreachable via email, social media, and online chat. It appears no one is actively managing or responding to customer concerns from these channels. I have numerous email confirmations of tickets opened via email and online chat with no response from the company. After months of no success, I reached out via phone and was able to speak with a customer service representative. After a number of calls over the span of a few months, it took the mention of potentially escalating the matter to a supervisor to see some progress. I provided photos of defective cards, proof of purchase, card codes/identifiers, and everything else they requested on multiple occasions in the time since August 2022. There was a point where they stated they could not find the photos I emailed to them, though after some time, they were able to find them. They offered to replace the defective cards which was promising; however, as of March 2023, replacements for 10% of the cards were received. I emailed them in late April 2023 to follow-up and have not heard a response to-date. This is an unfortunate situation for a company as large as Konami and will very much impact my decision to purchase foil Yu-Gi-Oh! cards in the future. I hope to hear from them to turn this negative experience into a...

As a long-time player, I can confidently say this company does everything except support its actual competitive player base. Konami knowingly prints game-defining cards at the highest rarities, creating artificial scarcity and driving prices through the roof. If you want a top-tier deck? Be prepared to gamble away $400–$500 on packs just to maybe get the cards you need or pay outrageous prices on the secondary market. And they know it. It’s predatory.

Worse, the prize support for top-level competitive events is insulting: air fryers, Nintendo Switches, a single ultra rare prize card, maybe a deck box or sleeves but no meaningful cash prizes. How do you expect pro players to survive? Most have to work full-time jobs, borrow money, or sell personal items just to attend events. Many go into debt trying to reach Worlds. It’s sickening.

Meanwhile, other trading card games like Pokémon and Magic support their pros with real money and structured competitive circuits. Konami offers zero financial stability, no path to making a living, and refuses to change, despite years of complaints.

If you’re considering investing time or money into Yu-Gi-Oh competitively, don’t. It’s a rigged, pay-to-win system disguised as a community-driven game. Konami doesn’t care about its players. Just profits. I implore you to go play Magic, Pokémon, One Piece or Lorcana. Yu-Gi-Oh is a hateful,...

You’ve suspended sanctioned events at Refined Gaming in Toledo, OH without any reasoning. Owner Nick Giles has been a member/advocate of the Yugioh community for years. Refined Gaming is easily the best LGS in Southeast Michigan/Northwest Ohio, at the very least they’re owed an explanation. When other stores prioritized other card games as Covid mandates began getting lifted, Refined Gaming stood by the Yugioh community. Players drive hours from multiple states to compete at Refined Gaming because they know Nick Giles puts our game first, YOUR game. I’ve known Nick and his staff for years, they’ve handled stressful, difficult, and flat out unnecessary situations with absolute professionalism that other LGS could stand to learn from. Everyone in the Yugioh community attending Refined Gaming, many of us 20+ years playing this game, are disappointed in your decision. An...