And to think, Duel Monsters was once a children's card game.
It's almost impossible to imagine the concept these days. Children summoning demonic monsters and wielding powerful magic at their fingertips, never truly knowing how much fire they were playing with. Did no one notice the monsters inexplicably coming to life? The apocalypses that just happened to coincide with card tournaments? The rare cards that had to be kept under armed guard and ancient seals? The past must seem so absurd to those in the present.
The madmen at Industrial Illusions may have created the game, but it was KaibaCorp that started the world down the path to the present. The world scoffed when KaibaCorp switched from a manufacturer of military technology to a gaming company, but in reality KaibaCorp traded one brand of weapon for another that was far ahead of its time, pioneering the so-called 'holographic' technology with far more realism than possible as well as a computer system which could even read and play cards that were never programmed into it. It was these tools along with several convenient 'tournaments' that allowed the ambitious and the religious extremists to make their moves. The cards came to life, the gods of old were reborn, and the elite drew their cards.
KaibaCorp was only the beginning. Soon, the ambiguous yet undeniable power of Duel Monsters allowed select few to gain all the power and wealth they could imagine, destroying and consuming their competitors. Now the wealth and power is concentrated in the hands of the few mighty rulers who sit in their ivory towers counting their money and their cards. The ten massive corporations known as the Fortune Ten control every facet of life from food and water to health care to even law enforcement. These ten organizations are the result of years of hostile takeovers and corporate warfare with which card games were the battlefield of choice.
But all the power and wealth brought by these gladiator games doesn't change the fact that every ruler needs his masses. Corporations need consumers for the circle of life to continue. Thus we have the other end of the scale, the streets and shadows between the ivory towers. Even down here, card games rule the streets more than brute force could ever do so alone. Gangs and scavengers roam the streets and buildings abandoned by civilization constantly skirmishing for survival and supremacy. Those who don't submit to the rule of the gangs have it the worst, fending for themselves with little aid.
However, fate often favors such underdogs...