(Photo: Valve) Valve has decided to end development on the reboot of its digital collectible card game Artifact after realizing that, regardless of the improvements, gamers just aren't interested enough in playing it.
Artifact was designed by Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield and based in the universe of Dota 2.
It focuses on online player-versus-player battles across three boards.
When it first launched on Steam back in 2018, the gameplay and mechanics were well-received, but the learning curve was steep and the monetization model upset players.
You had to pay for the game and then pay more for new cards, which couldn't be traded through Steam.
With negative reviews and low active player counts, Valve decided to spend time rebooting the game, which was referred to as Artifact 2.0 Beta.
However, after nearly 18 months of development, the team is throwing in the towel.
In a post of Steam, the Artifact Team explained, "While we're reasonably satisfied we accomplished most of our game-side goals, we haven't managed to get the active player numbers to a level that justifies further development at this time.
As such, we've made the tough decision to stop development on the Artifact 2.0 Beta."
The Beta has been renamed Artifact Foundry and it, along with the original version (Artifact Classic), are now free to play by everyone with a Steam account.
The post goes on to say, "Technically Artifact Foundry remains an unfinished product, but most of what's missing is polish and art - the core gameplay is all there.
While both games will remain playable, we don’t plan to ship any further gameplay updates."
Recommended by Our Editors
With the monetization model removed and every card now being free, it's possible Artifact Foundry and/or Classic could become more popular than they have ever been.
And as a way of rewarding players who paid for the game and new cards in the past, Valve is converting their existing cards into Collector's Edition versions "which will remain marketable."
(Photo: Valve) Valve has decided to end development on the reboot of its digital collectible card game Artifact after realizing that, regardless of the improvements, gamers just aren't interested enough in playing it.
Artifact was designed by Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield and based in the universe of Dota 2.
It focuses on online player-versus-player battles across three boards.
When it first launched on Steam back in 2018, the gameplay and mechanics were well-received, but the learning curve was steep and the monetization model upset players.
You had to pay for the game and then pay more for new cards, which couldn't be traded through Steam.
With negative reviews and low active player counts, Valve decided to spend time rebooting the game, which was referred to as Artifact 2.0 Beta.
However, after nearly 18 months of development, the team is throwing in the towel.
In a post of Steam, the Artifact Team explained, "While we're reasonably satisfied we accomplished most of our game-side goals, we haven't managed to get the active player numbers to a level that justifies further development at this time.
As such, we've made the tough decision to stop development on the Artifact 2.0 Beta."
The Beta has been renamed Artifact Foundry and it, along with the original version (Artifact Classic), are now free to play by everyone with a Steam account.
The post goes on to say, "Technically Artifact Foundry remains an unfinished product, but most of what's missing is polish and art - the core gameplay is all there.
While both games will remain playable, we don’t plan to ship any further gameplay updates."
Recommended by Our Editors
With the monetization model removed and every card now being free, it's possible Artifact Foundry and/or Classic could become more popular than they have ever been.
And as a way of rewarding players who paid for the game and new cards in the past, Valve is converting their existing cards into Collector's Edition versions "which will remain marketable."
