Wizards of the Coast have just revealed Magic: The Gathering Arena, the latest digital take on the popular card game. While there is no official release date for MTG Arena just yet, a closed beta will take place later this year.
The goal for MTG Arena is to create the ultimate way to play Magic digitally. However, in a move to take on digital card game giant Hearthstone, Wizards of the Coast have developed MTG Arena with streaming in mind, so players can go from the tabletop to Arena to Twitch without missing a beat.
"We want to create the deepest, richest digital card game on the market, and for it to be as much fun to watch as it is to play," said Jeffrey Steefel, Wizards of the Coast’s vice president of digital game development, in a press statement.
MTG Arena will be a free-to-play game, and if it is anything like Magic Duels, will likely feature microtransactions to buy additional cards beyond a free starter deck. The game will launch on PC, but is built using Unity, which means porting to other platforms should be a simple process. MTG Arena also features the new Games Rules Engine, which Wizards mentions will make adding any Magic card much easier. The company plans to add around 1,000 new cards every year, as more card sets are released.
"We assembled some of the best game designers in the industry who are working to build a digital platform as flexible and expansive as Magic itself," President Chris Cocks added in the statement.
When the MTG Arena beta launches, only the 279 cards from the most recent Ixalan set will be included for Constructed play. Plans for the full launch include Draft and Ranked Constructed modes, along with the addition of all Standard-legal cards.
So what does this mean for Magic Online and Magic Duels? While Wizards says this isn’t a replacement for any game, it certainly feels like this will take over for Magic Duels. As for Magic Online, Wizards released a full article about the future of the online game. The short answer is Magic Online will still be the most comprehensive version of digital Magic, and the company will continue to support it into the future.
If you want to try MTG Arena for yourself, be sure to sign up for the closed beta right now. Signing up doesn’t guarantee a spot, but you definitely can’t play if you don’t try.
So what do you think? Are you excited to see the newest version of digital Magic? Will you try out MTG Arena or will you stick with Magic Online? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
