11/02/2026
The Road Ahead - November 1, 2026
Hello friends.
It's been so long since I've written a "The Road Ahead" post. Thank you for being here with us.
When Jocelyn and I started First Player, we had a little motto we used behind the scenes, "Evolve or die". This has been true of businesses since the dawn of commerce. We still use this motto today.
Well, WOW, has this ever been an evolution.
5 and 1/2 years of First Player. From our little collection of Magic and Pokemon Cards, to a warehouse with more than 1.36 Million card singles in-stock across eight different games. I counted this morning.
From the two of us in our living room, working by lamplight through endless hours (they were Covid hours, they don't count as regular hours) to a team of 10 uniquely awesome individuals who call themselves First Player. We bring gaming together 7 days a week for this AMAZING Community.
AMAZING
The love and support we have seen from this Community is unparalleled.
We now have Pokémon being painted on the walls of our Showroom by crazy-talented artists.
We have hosted some of the most creative and fun evenings of gaming we have ever experienced. It has gone beyond "just a card shop" long ago.
And it's all of YOU making it happen. You are the ones that come out to play every week at 7pm. And for some of you, I mean EVERY week. The dedication and loyalty... I've never seen anything like it.
It's why we do Purple Thursday Sales. Our way of giving back. This week feels like one big THANK YOU for us.
WHERE TO NEXT?
First up, our website, firstplayer.ca
It's getting an overhaul.
It's going to look a bit different and function a whole lot better. We are making it easier to find the game pieces you are looking for.
The new look & feel is more than just a fresh paint job. There is a whole lot going behind the scenes, that makes the website perform better, and we will be exploring some very cool new technologies together.
A.I.
Let me makes this clear, on behalf of all of us at First Player. We will not use A.I. to replace our creative processes, or any of our designs. From the images we use, to the video content we create, these are human ideas and human expression. We understand how easy it is to have A.I. creep into all aspects of running any business in our digital world, we will continue to choose human artistic creations.
THE HOTTEST GAMES
We have always been about the Play first.
We have gone from one-day-a-week gaming nights, to seven days a week and what can feel like non-stop gaming.
The industry has chosen Organized Play as the vehicle to getting product into the hands of the Players. It's coincidental that our business model lines up perfectly.
Yet with only so many days in the week to play, we have to make choices on which games to focus on.
Magic the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, Pokémon, Riftbound, One Piece, Gundam and Union Arena are the seven games we are currently hosting for Organized Play.
This means, if you enjoy these games, we are going to have at least one event every week for you to join in at. Players will have first access to the latest releases, and our play spaces will prioritize these events.
If you're a Player, you get the goods.
WE ARE LOOKING TO GROW
I mean, I guess we never stopped.
We love the vibes we have now in the not-so-creepy little warehouse tucked away off Blackfoot.
We want to grow beyond this too.
If you are part of our Community (if you're reading this, you definitely are) we would love to chat with you, listen to your ideas of how you would like to see first Player grow. Please share with us. Together we can design the coolest gaming experiences imaginable.
JOIN IN
Let's take a moment to applaud our team at First Player.
First is Nate, the not-so-evil genius behind some of your favourite First Player moments on Instagram, Facebook, Discord, TikTok and YouTube.
Nate is the driving force of it all. Kudos sir.
The second standing ovation goes to Zoe, as she has teamed up with Nate this year to create some of the most beautiful and hilarious moments we have had the pleasure of broadcasting across our Social channels. Zoe, you rock.
While the entire team lends a hand with brainstorming ideas and even acting in our videos, I want to give a special shout out to our newest team member, Rob.
Have you seen his Purple Thursday promo video?! Thank you Rob, you bled Purple with us and there's no question that you are a most welcome addition to our team.
From Drake's infectious happiness, to Miguel's Deck-Building prowess, to Katie's rock-solid structure with our inventory to Ash's deep love of everything Pokémon to Esther's PhD in Fire Emblem, our team works incredibly hard to see this Community flourish and our Players happy to keep coming back. We love our team and we sure hope you do too!
Thank you to each and every one of you who supports us, through Social media, through purchasing from us, and coming out to our Events - we are here to continue to serve the gaming Community and give it our all.
From the bottom of our big purple hearts,
HAPPY GAMING
- Stephen and Jocelyn Sellers
