As we wind down the final days of 2024, it’s time to provide the community with details on KeyForge’s 2025 Organized Play season. The groundwork for this upcoming season has been laid throughout our ambitious 2024 journey, and we aspire for KeyForge to achieve even greater success in the year ahead. We look forward to welcoming back many familiar players and, with a bit of luck, attracting a host of new enthusiasts too.

We don’t expect significant structural changes; instead, our goal is to enhance our commitment by delivering on our promises promptly and making running or attending events easier than ever. This means more timely updates, generous registration periods for organizers, longer ticketing windows, and additional ways to discover where the action is. We hope that you’ll love what we’ve in store for OP ’25.

If you’re new to the scene or need a refresher, KeyForge’s Organized Play is split into two main categories: Retail and Premier. Let’s dive into each category and explore what Ghost Galaxy has in store for 2025.

Growing KeyForge requires that stores have blend of casual and competitive events that appeal to both newcomers and seasoned players. These are Retail Events, and they are for supporting retailers in gathering and maintaining local play groups.

We’re proud to have delivered many of these events to stores in 2024 including the KeyForge 2024 Store Championships, Martian Civil War Summer Event, and set Pre-Releases. We also revealed the fruits of the KeyForge Home Base program with the Home Base Retailer List, which helps retailers signal their commitment to supporting KeyForge players. Many of these initiatives will continue in 2025.

Those efforts, while worthy accomplishments, were undermined in ’24 by some misses. Support for weekly events in the form of casual kits did not materialize, and we did not manage to initiate a public release of our partnering tournament software, Playstile. We cannot guarantee that we won’t make more mistakes, but we’re working to improve in areas we can to create more enjoyable experiences for players and stores.

Here’s our Retail Events plan for 2025:

As the first entry in the Local Play category, we have designed an OP set to engage and excite newcomers and returning players alike: the New Player Discovery Kit exemplifies the kind of Local Play experiences that Ghost Galaxy aims to offer to retailers. These kits will be available while supplies last.

We have plans to introduce more Local Play experiences in the upcoming year for our dedicated KeyForge fans. Our goal is to have additional event kits available for both retailers and game groups. Details to be forthcoming.

Prior to the release of each KeyForge main set, but after the delivery of our Gamefound rewards, patrons of local retailers will be able to enjoy a look at the latest KeyForge set in the form of pre-release events.

The next pre-release will be for KeyForge: Prophetic Visions in mid-2025, and we hope to release KeyForge: Draconian Measures in late 2025. Exact dates are to be announced and may vary by retailer and region.

Ghost Galaxy was thrilled to see the positive player reaction to the Martian Civil War event, which allowed attendees the exciting chance to shape KeyForge by fighting for the Martian Rebels or Martian Elders.

Because of the rich enthusiasm for the 2024 event, we have another Summer Special Event coming in 2025. Additional details can be expected later this year, while the event itself is currently planned to be run in the August-September, 2025 (these are tentative plans, timing may shift).

Store Championships are the foundational level of Premier Organized Play, and the most important competitive event hosted by retailers. For the majority of local communities, this will be the primary way for players to start their journey towards Premier-level events.

Retailers may pre-order their 2025 Store Championship event kit and schedule their events now. Players can expect to attend events at participating retailers between February 22nd and March 31st, 2025.

KeyForge players interested in competing should tell their local store and show them the link above!

Premier Events are large exposition events intended for the most enthusiastic and ardent KeyForge fans, designed to drive continued engagement with casual side events and showcase the highest levels of KeyForge play with competitive tournaments. Ghost Galaxy will run most of these events, but we will partner with dedicated local organizers for a number of events (particularly in international regions).

Here’s our Premier Events plan for 2025:

The prestigious Vault Tour series will return in 2025. Vault Tour stops are big social and competitive gatherings where KeyForge players come together to earn spots in the KeyForge World Championship or simply mingle with a regional cross-section of the KeyForge community in casual play.

Vault Tour 2025 will be held from April to September ’25, with the first stop being awarded to our partner Millennium Games in Rochester, New York on April 25 to 27, 2025. We cannot wait to return to their amazing store!

Additional details on the Vault Tour, including dates and ticketing for the U.S. stops (along with any information our international partners have finalized) will be forthcoming in January ’25.

National Championships are tournaments that allow specific nations to crown a National Champion in each competitive KeyForge format and send them to the KeyForge World Championship. Each National Championship will be run by a designated partner chosen by Ghost Galaxy.

Breaking from 2024, the 2025 National Championships events will only occur in regions that are not supported by a Vault Tour event. We have made this decision because Vault Tour stops and Nationals generally are the same level of event, and we want to simplify the Organized Play calendar while still allowing nations that are unable commit to a Vault Tour stop to participate.

Sign-ups for international partners interested in hosting a National Championship will be up in January ’25. We hope to have a partial map of participating countries started May ’25. National Championships will run August through September, 2025.

Ghost Galaxy has traditionally run the U.S. National Championship at Gen Con, but we will be retiring the event for 2025 due to the direction with National Championships. Instead, we will be holding the 2025 KeyForge Gen Con Bash.

We will focus on smaller, accessible events throughout the weekend that are for new players and existing players already attending Gen Con. Smaller events will allow all players to see more of the convention while still getting in some exciting games of KeyForge. Come to the Bash and have a blast!

Details will be forthcoming, dependent on when Gen Con has approved exhibitor events. Gen Con itself will be held July 31 to August 3, 2025.

World Championships are the pinnacle, capstone event for the KeyForge competitive season. Participation in a World Championship is contingent on an World Championship invitation, which may be earned in the following ways:

1. Winning a 2025 Vault Tour or National Championship.
2. Placing 2nd in a 2025 Vault Tour or National Championship.
3. Placing in the Top 8 of a Vault Tour or National Championship and receiving an invite that has “rolled down” because players who placed higher were already invited.
4. Placing first in the 2024 World Championships or one of the Open tournaments hosted at KeyForge Celebration 2024.
5. Placing high in 2025 Last Chance Qualifier at KeyForge Celebration 2025, which will award remaining unclaimed spots (if any).

KeyForge’s 2025 World Championships will consist of three individual events, one for each competitive format: Sealed, Archon, and Alliance.

World Championships, Last Chance Qualifier, and KeyForge Open tournaments will take place at the Gamezenter venue in Roseville, Minnesota on November 6-9, 2025. They will be part of our large, yearly celebratory event, KeyForge Celebration.

KeyForge Celebration is a vibrant mini-convention dedicated to all things KeyForge. Competitive players can chase their dreams through events such as the Last Chance Qualifier and the World Championships, while casual players can enjoy Open tournaments and a variety of side activities. Everyone is welcome—no invitations needed!

As mentioned above, KeyForge Celebration 2025 will be held November 6-9, 2025 in Roseville, Minnesota at Gamezenter. Additional details should be available no later than March, 2025.

Below you’ll find a quick at-a-glance summary of Ghost Galaxy’s 2025 Organized Play plan.

Ghost Galaxy does not plan to make any changes to the line-up of tournament formats in 2025. KeyForge will continue to support Sealed, Archon, and Alliance for the 2025 competitive season. Information about each format can be found here.

The 2025 updates (including updates to the Alliance Restricted List) to the Master Rule Book (MRB) and Tournament Rules & Guidelines (TRG) will be completed before the commencement of competitive tournaments such as the 2025 Store Championships. Check out the Game Rules page and Tournament Formats page respectively for the most recent version of each of these documents.

There you have it. That’s everything in store for KeyForge Organized Play in 2025. We’re excited to continue pushing forward this game for our wonderful community and we hope you’re excited to forge keys in 2025. There’s going to be so much to do, so much to explore, and a ton of loot to battle over.

Next stop: Store Championships. Get your retailer involved today, and we’ll see you at the kick-off to KeyForge 2025 Organized Play!