Artifact was supposed to be the new card game hit by Valve. However, that didn’t really work out. Instead, interest in the game continued to decline. As a result, the value of the cards, all of which are tradeable on the marketplace, also decreased.
The value of the cards has dropped significantly: Cards can be obtained in Artifact either by directly purchasing them on the marketplace, by buying booster packs, or through the so-called “Keeper’s Draft”.
Through the Steam marketplace, players can trade cards freely among each other. In the months since the release of Artifact in November 2018, the value of all cards has dropped significantly. The website “howmuchdoesartifactcost.com” tracks the price of a complete collection on the marketplace.
According to this website, the average price to pay for a copy of each hero and three copies of all other cards is currently $41.01. (approximately €36.50, as of May 10 at 11:45 AM) The peak price of a complete collection on average was $298.87 on November 30, 2018. (approximately €266)
What determines the price of the cards? Players determine the price of the cards themselves. The marketplace is regulated basically by supply and demand. So, it happened that the most expensive card in Artifact was initially more expensive than the game itself.
In recent weeks and months, Artifact has been declining. From previously 60,000 concurrent players, Artifact had already fallen to 3,000 players in January 2019. Currently, the peak player count according to steamcharts in the past 30 days has reached only 166 concurrent players. (As of May 10 at 11:45 AM)
What happens next? In March, Valve addressed the poor state of the game. After players complained in droves and eventually stopped playing, a response came.
The response stated only that Artifact “is an opportunity” to “improve and use this knowledge to create a better game.” Since this response at the end of March, the Twitter account has been silent again.
It remains uncertain whether and how Artifact will continue. And Artifact is not the only major project that failed:
