Magic: Legends – Dead Before Arrival?

In an interesting turn of developments, it seems the new action RPG based on Magic: the Gathering has been pulled from release due to the response of the beta testing audience.

On their official website, developers Cryptic Studios write:

“Our vision for Magic: Legends missed the mark, but we are proud of what we achieved.”

While also promising to reimburse all beta testers and players for money spend for all in-game purchases.

The knock on effect is huge for the failed development team who have also had to make 44 staff redundant as a consequence. Aaron Walz (@walzmusic), Senior Sound Designer for the company revealed in a tweet that he was one of the many staff to have lost their job as a consequence.

Players who took part in the beta condemned the game heavily for its poor gameplay, lack of originality, and out-of-date mechanics, claiming that it felt more like a game fifteen years old than one to match modern standards.

It’s yet another failed project to try to expand the IP of groundbreaking trading card game Magic: the Gathering into other media, with a string of failed game, film and TV series projects in their wake. Still, that doesn’t seem to discourage Wizards of the Coast, who just keep trying, and there’s no doubt that the core game, plus the excellent MTG Arena online version, are going very strongly indeed.