Actually, Valve, the company behind Steam, intended to create a new hit with Artifact. That was in 2018. After a huge failure and a failed second attempt, Artifact is now completely free – even though it was quite expensive at launch.
What is Artifact? Artifact can best be described as a MOBA in collectible card form. On three different “lanes,” players use their cards to defeat enemy units and tear down towers.
The gameplay system is roughly similar to that of Hearthstone, only that the game is played simultaneously on three boards, two of which must be won. Players must decide where and how to concentrate and deploy their strength.
As a major feature, Artifact was supposed to be a real collectible card game. The digital cards were available in boosters and could be traded on the Steam marketplace – just like Magic or Pokémon cards used to be on the playground. Some cards were even more expensive than the game itself.
Why is Artifact now free? Shortly after its release in November 2018, there was significant criticism of Artifact’s payment system. Players were required to purchase the game itself and the cards additionally. Furthermore, Valve pursued the policy of not wanting to adjust cards anymore – meaning there would be no balancing.
However, this did not last long, as some cards were simply too strong. Long silence from the developers without updates or news about the game then caused many players to abandon the card game. Artifact lost 97% of its players in a few weeks.
In 2020, the decision came to completely overhaul Artifact as version 2.0 – unsuccessfully.
Up until shortly before the decision, an average of at most 40 players played Artifact for months, peaking at 80 (via steamcharts). For the developers, that is no longer enough to continue developing the game. There will be no more new updates – therefore, Artifact is now free.
- You can find Artifact for free on Steam.
Free for all players instead of €284
What exactly is free? Artifact is now available in two versions, both of which are free: Classic, the original variant, and Foundry, the revised “Artifact 2.0.” Both games are available for free on Steam and:
- all cards are included, there are no card packs to buy anymore
- those who previously purchased Artifact and cards can still trade their cards as a collector’s edition
- formerly paying customers can continue to receive collector’s editions in Classic – Free2Play players cannot
- in Foundry, all cards can be easily unlocked – there are none for purchase
- there are no more paid event tickets
The developers themselves explain the differences between Foundry and Classic in detail on the blog (via Steam).
With the switch to Free2Play, the player base has explosively increased. 819 players played Artifact concurrently over the past days. Whether this will maintain and whether it will have an impact on development remains to be seen.
Why was the game so expensive? Artifact itself actually only cost €17.95. However, you then needed the cards to play properly. A complete collection cost up to around €266 (300 $) shortly after release. So together up to about €284.
The value, however, fell fairly quickly, and those who bought cards for 300 $ only had a collection worth 40 $ shortly thereafter. And from now on, all cards are available to all players without spending a cent.
