The landscape of organised play is shifting as two of the most prominent names in tabletop event management, Best Coast Pairings (BCP) and Keyrune Incorporated (the team behind Melee.gg), have announced a formal merger. Operating under the new banner of Galactic Events Studio, the unified company aims to bridge the gap between wargaming, card games, and board games by integrating their respective technologies into a single, streamlined ecosystem for players and retailers alike.
For years, the competitive tabletop scene has been somewhat bifurcated. If you were attending a Warhammer 40,000 tournament, you were likely refreshing the BCP app to check your rankings. If you were drafting Magic: The Gathering or competing in the Star Wars: Unlimited Galactic Championship, Melee.gg was your primary digital hub. This merger signals an end to that fragmentation, promising a unified login system and a “Match Manager” tool designed to simplify the logistical headache of running large-scale events across different genres.
The scale of this merger is significant. Keyrune Incorporated currently supports over 6,000 stores and 10,000 organisers, while Best Coast Pairings has been a staple of the community since 2015, boasting high-profile partnerships with giants like Games Workshop and Catan Studio.
Scott Elliott, CEO of Keyrune Incorporated, explained in the press release:
The Melee.gg platform supports more than 6,000 stores and 10,000 plus organisers globally. Melee serves top-tier publishers like Wizards of the Coast and their Magic: the Gathering Pro Tour and Regional Championship series, as well as Fantasy Flight Games’s Star Wars: Unlimited TCG… Adding the experience and technology of the BCP team will empower Galactic Events Studio to deliver the most effective event registration and tournament tools available.”
Paul McKelvey, CEO of Best Coast Pairings, added:
Our continued efforts to improve the event experience from players to publishers got us connected with the Keyrune team. Our shared values aligned immediately, making it clear that BCP and Keyrune should work together to support the community and industry we love. Together our combined team will deliver best in class tools to support events of all sizes.”
While both platforms will remain functional independently for the immediate future to avoid disrupting existing tournaments, the long-term goal is total integration. The first fruit of this union, the “Match Manager” tool, is scheduled for a live demo at GAMA 2026 (booth 685) in early March.
For the average hobbyist, this likely means fewer apps taking up storage space and a more consistent experience when jumping from a Friday Night Magic session to a Saturday morning Warhammer narrative event. For store owners, the promise of a single backend to manage 21,000 combined organisers globally could significantly reduce the administrative friction of maintaining a busy event calendar.
