Room for one more?
Another digital card game is entering the fray. Wizards of the Coast has unveiled Magic: The Gathering Arena, a free-to-play title in production at the company’s in-house Digital Games Studio.
Sign-ups are open for a closed beta, and while the game is currently targeting a PC release, it’ll “expand to other platforms when it’s ready.” The beta will “start with Constructed play, where you can build decks using all 279 cards from the upcoming Magic set Ixalan. We plan to add Draft and Ranked Constructed later. Our goal for launch is to include all Standard-legal Magic cards.”
“The focus of MTG Arena will be on the newest cards and game modes,” notes vice president of digital game development Jeffrey Steefel. “Because of this, we know that Magic Online — which has a library of nearly every card ever printed from the game’s entire history — will continue to offer experiences to players that are unique to Magic Online. Development on Magic Online will continue with new card sets, new updates, and ongoing tournaments.”
It sounds like they’re angling for the coveted live-streaming crowd, which is to be expected. “We want popular MTG Arena streams to consistently be among the most-viewed streams on Twitch. We want players to eagerly anticipate MTG Arena draft nights with their friends around the world. We want pro players’ competitive ladder matches to be watched with the same fervor as a Grand Prix.”
I’m no MTG player, but I have a sense that y’all have been burned before. You feeling this?
Everything You Need to Know About Magic: The Gathering Arena [Magic]
