After weeks of silence, something is finally happening in Artifact. A new patch is here – but can it save anything?
The journey of Artifact certainly didn’t go as Valve envisioned. After an initial hype, players quickly disappeared. More than 97% of its initial player base turned their back on Artifact. The problem was exacerbated by the developer’s lack of communication with players. Fans waited for a response for weeks. Now it has finally arrived, as Artifact has received a new patch.
What does the patch change? The patch mainly makes many balance changes to the items players can buy during a match. For example, the gold cost for a Hero’s Cape drops from 15 to 12 gold and the Cloak of Endless Carnage from 13 to 10 gold. Additionally, there are numerous bug fixes aimed at increasing the stability of Artifact – it frequently crashed for many players.
You can view the full list of changes in our sources.
Speed mode for private matches: A new option that can be utilized in private lobbies and tournaments is likely to be of interest. Players can choose to enable the “Speed Timer.” Then, players only have 10 seconds to make an action, creating a sense of urgency.
Communication hidden in the patch notes: The final point of the patch notes does represent a form of communication with players, as it states “Unchanged: Still in it for the long haul,” which implies: “Unchanged: This is designed for the long term.” While this is not much communication, it is at least better than none.
The community is dissatisfied: Although the remaining community finds many changes in the patch good and sensible, they seem to believe that this falls under the category of “too little, too late.” Calls for a “Free2Play” model are growing louder, and for numerous players, this seems to be the only way to give Artifact another chance at a comeback. Most players have disappeared and turned their backs on Artifact. It seems unlikely that these players will take a second look.
However, perhaps Valve will keep its promise to aim for long-term sustainability with Artifact, leading to a potential resurrection. So far, that seems rather unlikely.
Are you still playing Artifact? Or do you hope for a Free2Play change before giving the game a chance?
