The current state of Magic

[Darkenslight]

Popular yes. Successful, not really; Or at least they aren't directly making much money off of supporting Modern.

Edit:
@Barook: I assume it's that poll where they tweeted asking how everyone liked Standard. Responses were ranging from 1-4 out of 10.

That was arguably because of being able to hard-lock people out of the game from Turn 3, or being able to hardcast 13/13 Flying Spaghetti Mindslavers on turn 4 with some consistency, and almost no way to disrupt them effectively.

[iatee]

Popular yes. Successful, not really; Or at least they aren't directly making much money off of supporting Modern.

Edit:
@Barook: I assume it's that poll where they tweeted asking how everyone liked Standard. Responses were ranging from 1-4 out of 10.

There's an upper limit to how much money they can make on a format designed to let people not constantly spend money on it. With Modern Masters, they managed to find a way to get new players into the format without crashing prices, and they've somehow gotten people to accept the idea of paying $10 for a booster pack. How else could they be making money off Modern?

[s&s]

There must be something dramatically wrong with WoTC's structure if selling packs of painted cardboard at 2$ isn't profitable enough. Not even going to mention MTGO.

[rufus]

There must be something dramatically wrong with WoTC's structure if selling packs of painted cardboard at 2$ isn't profitable enough. ....

But is Hasbro looking for profit or for growth? Sometimes raking in money hand over fist isn't enough to slake corporate greed.

[s&s]

But is Hasbro looking for profit or for growth? Sometimes raking in money hand over fist isn't enough to slake corporate greed.

They can't have their cake and eat it too.

Making a profit should be trivial, whether they turn that profit into dividends for the shareholders, or growth of the game to increase future profit - is their call and their call only.

I find it entertaining that they are running one of the most lucrative business models ever, and claim they can't support certain formats due to "not enough profit".

Its like being able to turn lead into gold and complaining the transport costs for gold are too high.

[maharis]

It's a rock and a hard place.

Entrenched players with big collections want outlets to play with their old cards. Their ceiling for investing in new cards has been reached, or slows dramatically. They cease being direct customers of Wizards, but become important customers of Wizards' primary retail outlets. But that doesn't mean they still don't want competitive games or to play for decent stakes.

If you start taking away the juice for playing with old cards, it's easier for people to just walk away when they are done with the Standard/Limited portion of their Magic careers. They aren't trading up at LGSes, or playing in those stores' events. That means you have to acquire new customers, and that's where you run into competition with other games that are a lower skill cap/buy in/headspace. And if you can't bring them in, your distribution network falls apart, and you can't get product into your customers' hands.

[Barook]

So WotC just showcased "Magic Digital Next" on the Toy Fair for the first time. It seems that it isn't exatly a program, but an umbrella term for various stuff. The only screenshot we got is this:



We Heartstone now!

[Megadeus]

How is it any different from Duels?

[rufus]

How is it any different from Duels?

Duels is something that exists.

[Barook]

How is it any different from Duels?

Maybe it is a new version of Duels. Hard to say.

[Barook]

Sorry for the double post. We got now info on Magic:

http://imgur.com/a/52mdF

For how long does MtG have a playerbase of 20 million now? The number seems to stagnate quite a bit.

[phonics]

All potential players went to hearthstone or shadowverse or that wrestling card game instead.

[Claymore]

there's another screenshot of Digital Next in that imgur album. Looks a little more normal, but still features damage confetti.

[TsumiBand]

there's another screenshot of Digital Next in that imgur album. Looks a little more normal, but still features damage confetti.

I've always assumed that when a Squirrel token tanks an 8/8, confetti comes out

[Sansian]

Sorry for the double post. We got now info on Magic:

http://imgur.com/a/52mdF

For how long does MtG have a playerbase of 20 million now? The number seems to stagnate quite a bit.

They really do get forever mileage out of that picture of the red head playing magic while three guys are focusing on her...

[Warden]

All potential players went to hearthstone or shadowverse or that wrestling card game instead.

I really thought you were being sarcastic, but the numbers support it. I believe some of these "facts" were reported on earlier paged, but I'm adding some new material.

Top digital CCG's in 2016 by revenue (USD): https://www.statista.com/statistics/...es-by-revenue/
Hearthstone Growth (March 2014 - April 2016): https://www.statista.com/statistics/...aft-worldwide/
On the digital front MTG cannot compare to the big 2. Even if you combine its MTG Online + MTG Duels properties.

For paper MTG, a mid-2015 article by TheGuardian "estimated 20M MTG players worldwide". https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...hit-where-next
Assuming the numbers from that 2015 article were accurate, our early 2017 investor's day numbers signal the notion of stagnant growth for the paper game.

*I'll stand by my earlier comments in this thread. The writing is on the wall and for whatever reason, WotC/Hasbro feels they don't need to compete. IMO, they're shooting themselves in the foot long-term.

[Claymore]

My earlier post is mistaken, that new imgur album doesn't have a new picture of MDN. It's just a screenshot of Magic Duels again. That 2015 article has a very similar picture.

Which makes me wonder, are they continuing Duels? Still advertising it in over MDN at the Investor Day...

http://i.imgur.com/0ZL3Uzx.webp

[Julian23]

@Claymore: MDN has been revealed to be the name of the entire team/project working on the future of the online Magic experience; it is not a piece of software. WotC plans on going ahead with Duels of the Planeswalkers and MTGO.

[Crimhead]

How else could they be making money off Modern?

By planting Modern staples in Standard boosters ala Thoughtseize in Theros.

[Dice_Box]

Also Inquisition in Conspiracy, Fatal Push in Revolt, all of Karns... They make decent bank off Modern because it's a simpler format to push cards into.