While Magic: The Gathering and its digital counterparts continue to grow and thrive, Cryptic Studios’ contribution to the franchise hasn’t managed to replicate that same level of success.
Magic: Legends, an action RPG set in the card game’s Multiverse, entered open beta earlier this year following its initial announcement back in 2017, featuring gameplay similar to contemporaries such as Blizzard’s Diablo III. Despite a slew of promising pre-release trailers, players stepping foot into the fledgling world swiftly encountered numerous performance issues, negativity only exacerbated further with what many considered to be egregious monetization practices. In an attempt to accommodate fan feedback, the developer has steadily been releasing patches since March, but it seems that those, too, have failed to right the ship, so to speak.
Addressing the community in an open letter published on the PlayMagicLegends website yesterday, Cryptic announced with “heavy hearts” that servers for the title are scheduled to cease operating by the end of fall, in turn halting any plans for a full launch.
It’s worth noting that anyone who has already spent real money on in-game items will receive full refunds prior to the October 31st closure date. This includes any direct debit/credit card transactions as well as those made through the Epic Game Store, says executive producer Steve Ricossa, who also confirms that all content previously locked behind a paywall will be made purchasable with Aether (earnable currency) later this week. As for the prospect of Magic: Legends ever making a return in the future, an accompanying FAQ states that there are currently “no plans” to do so.
An unfortunate series of events, then, though fans of Magic‘s core tabletop experience still have plenty to get excited about. Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, an expansion based on the Dungeons & Dragons brand, is due to release next month. See here for all the latest card reveals.
