French esports organisation Gentle Mates has unveiled its own physical trading card game, stepping into a product category that's generating serious money across the industry. The game, titled Tout Commence Ici ("It All Starts Here"), draws on the club's history rather than fantasy lore — putting moments, players and milestones on the cards themselves. Pre-orders are live now on the Gentle Mates official site.
Another milestone for our org. Gentle Mates TCG is here 👌🏻 https://t.co/D9dDDt4Xjp
— Sinan Koyuncu (@Luinwes) July 17, 2026
The debut collection contains more than 120 cards, with each booster pack including ten cards per pack. Every card in this first print run carries a "First Edition" stamp that won't appear on future reprints, which will make early buyers' purchases more collectible over time.
What's in each pack, and what it'll cost you
Gentle Mates is selling the TCG across four tiers, ranging from an entry-level bundle to a premium collector's set. Here's how they break down:
| Pack | Price (EUR) | Price (USD approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | €49 | ~$53 |
| Prestige | €99 | ~$107 |
| Legendary | €199 | ~$215 |
| Founder | €349 | ~$377 |
The Essential pack includes two starter decks, one called "Toxic Section" with a promotional Squeezie card, the other "Déter Section" featuring a Brawks promo card, alongside three boosters and a pack of holographic stickers.
According to Gentle Mates TCG’s website, the top-tier Founder pack includes an exclusive sealed holographic display of 24 First Edition boosters, two six-booster bundles, a Premium Founder's Edition binder, 300 card sleeves across three variants, 50 toploaders, a metal coin, a premium deckbox, an art book, a necklace, a lithograph, a pin set, a keychain, and a scarf. We always thought it definitely needed the scarf, otherwise it wouldn’t feel complete. It also comes with two exclusive promotional cards: "The Puppeteer – Running the World" and "Tout Commence Ici" sealed in an acrylic case.
The card list visible on fan resource Matepedia already shows 86 of the 123 cards in the set catalogued (about 65% of the full collection) including entries like "Gotaga Pose," "Worlds Lyon," "Marteen Supreme,” and "Reverse Squeeze.” The names confirm that this is a product for fans who've been following the org for some time, as opposed to a standalone competitive game aimed at those who are late to the party.
Why Gentle Mates is going physical
Launching a standalone merchandise product like a TCG gives an organisation a consistent revenue stream that doesn't depend on tournament results. When a team loses early, securing sponsorship deals gets harder. With physical collectibles, you don’t have that kind of niggling volatility.
Gentle Mates isn't alone in recognising this. In fact, perhaps they were inspired by fellow French org Karmine Corp, which already has its own tactical trading card game called Blue Rising. Like Gentle Mates’ game, it’s themed around the club's players and iconic moments. There’s also Riot Games' Riftbound, which is tied to its esports ecosystem, and which recently dropped a limited collaboration set with T1. Revenue estimates for that T1 release came in above $10 million, a figure that underscores the ceiling for this kind of product when an esports brand has a passionate, committed fanbase.
2-0 vs @natusvincere ggwp
— M8 MAVERA (@MaveraFPS) July 23, 2026
We went through some important days to become a ‘team’ in real. We’ve been prepared extra hard in marteen’s absence, and everyone was so supportive. He reciprocated by coming on stage today; he wanted to play no matter what. @wanzeruu came from his… pic.twitter.com/iTTMFzCtTj
For Gentle Mates, which competes across VALORANT (where its squad beat Natus Vincere 2-0 in VCT 2026 EMEA Stage 2 to positive fan response) and Call of Duty (where Paris Gentle Mates faced OpTic Texas at CDL 2026 Champs), the org has built genuine multi-title brand recognition. A physical product that celebrates that history should resonate with the audience most likely to buy it.
The First Edition play
The "First Edition" stamp is borrowed from the trading card industry's oldest playbook, making early adopters feel special — like they're getting something genuinely limited. If Gentle Mates releases subsequent print runs without the stamp, those early packs gain collectible value on the secondary market. That secondary market is where TCG companies often generate the most sustained community engagement, as collectors trade and chase high-rarity pulls.
It's a bold move for an org that has, up to now, built its identity primarily through competitive play and the streaming audiences of its founders. Backing that brand with physical collectibles is a meaningful step toward the kind of diversified commercial identity that lets esports organisations operate independently of any single game title or sponsor cycle.
Pre-orders for Tout Commence Ici are open now. No shipping date has been confirmed at time of publication.
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