A fan-made digital Lorcana Simulator, Pixelborn, recently donated $5000 to Doctors Without Borders. This donation marks the Pixelborn community’s third $1000+ donation to charity.

Pixelborn Donates $5000 to Doctors Without Borders

Pixelborn, an unlicensed and unsanctioned simulator for the Lorcana Trading Card Game, has so far avoided the attention of the Walt Disney Company for its fan-created digital version of the game. It also has outgrown creator Pavel Kolev’s ability to maintain it as a side hobby on his own dime; hosting servers can be expensive, and Pixelborn has more than 50,000 players. With support through Patreon, Pixelborn keeps itself afloat, but Kolev does not take any of the money for himself, according to an interview with The Gamer.

When he does have excess funds from the project, Kolev sets his Patreon community to a vote to decide where the money should be donated. The first donation of $1000 went to Doctors Without Borders; the second went to disaster relief in Maui following the wildfires. While Kolev has not heard from Disney or the game development company, Ravensburger, he has expressed that he knows the site could need to be shut down.

““I’m giving away my free time, most people enjoy what I’m doing, we’re providing resources to charities, it’s a win-win situation. I’m not sure if Ravensburger is seeing it this way,” Kolev said to The Gamer.

On October 4th, Kolev shared on his X page that he had completed another donation to Doctors without borders:

Legal Concerns for Pixelborn

Though donating to charity may help stave off any potential attention from Disney and Ravensburger, the perpetual threat remains that Pixelborn could be shut down any day. The gameplay and card images are pulled directly from the intellectual property of Ravensburger and Disney, and the latter is not known for allowing use of this intellectual property. in 1989, The Walt Disney Company famously sued three daycares for using the likeness of their characters in their centers. Many cottage industry crafters who used Disney imagery without permission have received cease and desist notices. To help prevent this, Kolev requires players to load in the card images themselves into the game, but the gameplay still remains the intellectual property of Disney/Ravensburger.

“If Ravensburger has a problem with Pixelborn, they don’t need to send lawyers or anything, they just need to ask me and I’ll shut it down immediately. If they think Pixelborn is harming the game, I’m not trying to harm their revenue or player base or LGS anything. I just want to try to help the game grow.”

Lorcana Supply Still Lagging Demand

Though Lorcana initially released on August 18 in smaller game shops and larger markets on September 1, the game has consistently sold out of product in the US market. The physical trading card game requires product to play it, and limited supply has prevented some would-be players from accessing the game. Lorcana has received good press about gameplay and made its way onto hot toy lists for the holiday season, but supply availability remains a concern. Ravensburger has announced reprints along with the second chapter of the game, Rise of the Floodborn, before the end of the calendar year in the United States.

Disney Lorcana: Rise of the Floodborn will be released to game stores on November 17 followed by a wide release on December 1. Read more about Rise of the Floodborn:

• First Look at Disney Lorcana: Rise of The Floodborn Cards and Products
• Preview of Disney Lorcana: Rise of the Floodborn Packaging Reveals More Cards
• First Look at More Disney Lorcana: Rise of the Floodborn Cards

A Disney100 edition of Disney Lorcana will also be released on December 1.

Are you a Pixelborn player, or do you play Lorcana in person? Let us know in the comments.

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