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4, Oct, 24

MTG Designer Defends Magic’s Long Term Sustainability

On any given day of the week, it’s not too hard to find someone on social media complaining about the death of MTG. This has been happening a lot recently given all that’s been going on with the Commander format. Unprecedented bans have shaken the format and resulted in Wizards taking over its management from here on out.

Unsurprisingly, many MTG players aren’t too happy about this, especially as more information has emerged over time. This controversy, however, is hardly the only one to rock MTG in recent times. Since it first appeared in 2020, Universes Beyond has long been a source of constant complaints that reappear remarkably often.

One of the most common complaints seen online is that Wizards is simply following a cash cow at the moment. Universes Beyond may have been remarkably successful so far, but it could potentially be doing long-term damage to the game. This has left many players concerned about the sustainability of MTG going forward. According to MTG’s Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, this isn’t a concern.

Suspect Sustainability

Chord of Calling | Secret Lair | Art by Kekai Kotaki
Chord of Calling | Secret Lair

To put it lightly, Magic: The Gathering has been experiencing a period of rampant growth throughout recent years. In 2022, MTG became a billion-dollar brand, and it’s not slowed down since. Each year, it feels like an increasing onslaught of products is being released many of which are Universes Beyond crossovers.

Both of these recent developments are often seen as negatives by deeply enfranchised MTG players. While more cards can be fun, keeping up with a near-endless spoiler season and constant metagame changes isn’t. With so much going on, keeping track of all things MTG can often feel like a full-time job, which doesn’t feel sustainable.

On top of this, Magic is arguably looking less magical than it used to nowadays thanks to Universes Beyond. Having real-life actors and video game characters plastered on cards certainly takes a lot of getting used to. For some players, this has simply been too much, resulting in some calling it quits.

Since Universes Beyond and Wizards product push began, it’s unclear exactly how many once-enfranchised players have stopped playing. Despite a lack of concrete details, the fact longstanding players are outright quitting is nonetheless concerning. After all, these are the players who typically engage with every single Magic set and routinely attend events.

While plenty of new players have started playing due to Wizards’ recent initiatives, converting new players to consistent players isn’t guaranteed. Unsurprisingly, this has raised concerns that Wizards is sacrificing long-term sustainability for the short-term explosive growth of MTG. As much as the peaks may be high now, there’s technically no guarantee they’ll last.

No Cause for Concern

Battle Royale (Triumph of the Hordes) | Secret Lair x Fortnite
Battle Royale (Triumph of the Hordes) | Secret Lair x Fortnite

As much as some MTG players may be upset, Wizards of the Coast seemingly isn’t worried. Speaking in a roundtable interview with IGN in August, MTG’s Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, was confident in the decisions Wizards is making. Unsurprisingly, Wizards isn’t planning on running MTG into the ground anytime soon. In fact, they want the game to last forever.

“We are always forward facing. Our goal is not to make the quickest buck we can and call it a day. […]  Magic is 31 years old, we plan to be here as long as we can. And so we are constantly forward thinking in how we do things.”

Mark Rosewater

Being forward-thinking is imperative to Magic’s survival at the end of the day. While classic MTG sets are fun, the game needs to innovate with new cards and strategies to keep things interesting. Between new sets and rotating formats, there’s good reason Rosewater states that Magic is “a game all about change.”

The creation of Universes Beyond has obviously been a pretty major change, but that’s not a bad thing. Yes, it may have been controversial at first, but there’s no denying it has now become a “runaway success.” Considering The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is the most successful MTG set of all time, suggesting otherwise would be foolish.

According to Rosewater, this success isn’t from a purely financial standpoint. “There’s lots of ways to look at something,” Rosewater told IGN. “We care about all of that.” Hopefully, this means that Universes Beyond sets are good for more than just record-high sales in the long run.

That’s not to say that high sales are inherently a bad thing, however. Later in the interview, Magic’s Global Play Lead, Ken Troop, highlighted how high sales often mean happy players. Unsurprisingly, good sets with fun cards, themes, and mechanics tend to sell better than bad ones. Subsequently, if a set sells well, Wizards knows they’re doing something right.

“For Magic, typically we do see that when things don’t sell well, that is a really good proxy of audience dislike. There’s very few things that I can point to sustainably over time that have sold well, but it wasn’t popular. Or conversely, things that people say are popular but don’t sell well. Magic typically is a really good converter of joy to economic engagement.”

Ken Troop

A Business Making Business Decisions

Decisions, Decisions | Unfinity
Decisions, Decisions | Unfinity

There’s no denying that Mark Rosewater is incredibly passionate about Magic: The Gathering. They don’t want to kill it, and Wizards certainly doesn’t either. If something goes wrong, Wizards tend to learn from their mistakes. There’s a good reason why we haven’t seen another Epilogue set after March of the Machine: The Aftermath.

On social media, MTG players were pretty receptive to this point. Whenever Rosewater speaks in videos, interviews, or on Blogatog, their passion for the game is clear. This doesn’t mean that MTG is immune from failure, however. At the end of the day, this game is a product, and one controlled by Hasbro.

As many players, like MayhemMessiah, point out on Reddit, this means Wizards’ hands are somewhat tied. If big daddy Hasbro demands more sets be released and more crossovers created, Wizards has little choice but to comply. At the end of the day, Hasbro has investors to appease and profit targets to hit.

Despite this profit-driven push from high above, we can actually take solace in the fact profit is so important. If a hugely expensive Universes Beyond set doesn’t sell well, Wizards and Hasbro will surely take notice. With this in mind, Magic: The Gathering surely isn’t going to disappear anytime soon, even if it hits a rough patch.

Read More: MTG Designer Confirms The End Of Traditional Set Design

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