Magic: The Gathering is a still-successful collectible card game that founded the entire genre. After some hints and rumors, it has now been officially confirmed that developer Cryptic (Neverwinter, Star Trek Online) is working on a Magic RPG.
In May 2017, rumors arose that the MMO developer Cryptic was working on a new fantasy game. Many hints indicated that a game based on the popular collectible card game Magic: The Gathering was in the works.
Now it’s finally official: Magic will indeed be developed as a fantasy RPG by Cryptic and publisher Perfect World.
Magic: The Gathering – MMO or Solo RPG?
According to Cryptic CEO Stephen D’Angelo, the game will be called Magic: The Gathering and will be an AAA RPG. It is being built from the ground up and aims to be high-quality both graphically and in gameplay. According to the CEO of Perfect World, Bryan Huang, they are very excited about the direction Cryptic is taking in the game’s development. It will be Magic like you’ve never experienced before.
More than these statements from the two leaders is not known. Not even whether Magic: The Gathering will be an MMO or a “regular” RPG. However, the term “RPG” at least strongly suggests that Magic will not be another Hearthstone clone.
It may be a hybrid of card and role-playing game. The chances of it being an MMO are also not bad, as Cryptic has been successfully developing online role-playing games like Star Trek Online or Neverwinter for years. If Magic were to become an MMO, it would be the first new western AAA online role-playing game since WildStar in 2014.
Update: There is now a statement from Cryptic. It is indeed an MMORPG, an AAA MMORPG, as it has been added. According to the official website, which is now offline again, it is supposed to be a “Free2Play action-MMMORPG” based on Magic: The Gathering.
What do you think of the idea of a Magic RPG? How do you envision the game? And do you hope for a card game hybrid or rather a classic (online) RPG? Or should Magic simply be a card game like Hearthstone instead of any RPG gimmicks? Let us know in the comments!
Also interesting: Alternative to Magic and Hearthstone – GWENT is in open beta
