With Magic: The Gathering Arena, Wizards of the Coast aims to showcase the grandfather of collectible card games in a fresh and new digital format. What is the state of the game today in April 2019, even though it is not appearing on Steam?
What is Magic: The Gathering Arena? Magic: The Gathering Arena is the latest installment in the digital Magic game series. Unlike previous spinoffs, Arena is designed to constantly evolve through the new “Game Rules Engine” and be able to bring new expansions of the real card game into digital form without many changes.
Magic: The Gathering Arena is available for free. The game is financed through the purchase of optional gems that players can use to buy additional booster packs or participate in tournaments.
In real life, Magic cards can cost a fortune.
The game aims to appeal to both newcomers and professionals. New players will be introduced to the game with an extensive tutorial.
Community and Streaming Instead of Steam
Arena not on Steam: The latest installment in the digital Magic games, Magic: The Gathering Arena, has been playable in open beta since September 27, 2018. Previously, fans enjoyed the collectible card game in the closed beta, if they were selected for the closed testing phase.
Some interested parties were disappointed at the announcement of the game, as Arena, unlike previous installments, has not yet appeared on Steam. Instead, developers rely on their own launcher, which can be downloaded for free from the official website. A dismay for some players who hoped to invest their Steam credit into virtual cards.
Whether Arena will ever appear on Valve’s platform remains uncertain.
Arena focuses on streaming: The developers of Magic: The Gathering Arena fully rely on the community. They work with content creators for deck builds or promote various streamers, for example, with giveaways on their channels.
Arena is also expected to have a future in esports. At the recent PAX East at the end of March, well-known Magic streamers and some of the best Arena players competed against each other in the Magic: The Gathering Mythic Invitational tournament. There was a total prize pool of 1 million US dollars. More information can be found on the official website.
The Number 2 After Hearthstone
How many players does Arena have? Wizards of the Coast remains reserved about the player numbers:
- The developers only announced via Twitter that around 17 million matches were played during the first weekend of the open beta.
- The Arena subreddit now has over 108,000 members. According to readers, over 20,000 new members have joined since the start of the open beta.
- Players on the subreddit believe that while Magic: The Gathering Arena has fewer players than Hearthstone, it has more than all other digital collectible card games.
On Twitch, Magic: The Gathering Arena is streamed under the general category “Magic: The Gathering.” While many streamers are active in Arena there, older versions of the digital MTG games and sometimes even the real-life variant also fall into this category.
The category has nearly 1.1 million followers on Twitch and, according to Twitchtracker, has an average of nearly 10,000 concurrent viewers daily. The highest number of viewers was 156,000.
Friendly Community with Active Streamers
What players say: Overall, players receive Arena well. The community in forums and social media seems very friendly and also provides comprehensive help to newcomers. Friendly streamers and their viewers are often referenced.
- There is some criticism regarding the lack of a release on Steam
- It is also frustrating that Magic: The Gathering Arena is generally only available for PC and not for mobile devices.
A big topic in the Arena community right now is the use of chat phrases. Like Hearthstone, Arena does not have in-game chat, only individual phrases that players can communicate to their opponents.
The community discusses in the subreddit and in the official forum when a “Good Game” is meant kindly or as an insult.
