Summary
During an earnings call, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks teased thatMagic: The Gathering Arenamay finally get the Commander format.
As reported byWar Gamer, Cocks said that “social-based play like Commander” helped boost tabletopMTG, and so the company plans to invest in it for the “digital platform in the long term” as well.
While Arena matches are between two players, Commander is played with four. If Arena were to implement this format, you’d likely have players on the top and bottom as per usual, but with one on the right and left as well.
Cocks said last year that Wizards of the Coast plans to implement Commanderat some point, mentioning that “[COO and CEO] Cynthia [Williams] and the team are figuring out how we can get a true multiplayer experience beyond two players”. A card was even added to the game as part of the Karlov Manor set that seemed tohint at future four-player functionality, as it mentioned “the player to their right” in the flavour text.
MTG Arena Wants To Boost “Collectibility”
Not only did Chris Cocks discuss bringing the Commander format to Arena, but he also mentioned boosting the digital card game’s “collectibility” to better match its tabletop counterpart.
This was raised after an investor noted that Arena is not performing as well as Magic: The Gathering when it comes to revenue, which Cock believes is because the digital TCG had one less set last year. He claimed that Arena is, as a matter of fact, “roughly in line” with standard Magic, but that the company is aiming to “refresh the platform” within the next two years.
It’s unclear how Arena will improve its collectibility when it already has card packs and cosmetics. We’ll just have to wait and see what WotC has planned.
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WHERE TO PLAY
Magic: The Gathering Arena is a digital version of the massively popular MTG collectible card game, and sees players build decks and compete against other players online. Constructed Deck and Limited play are both supported, and booster packs can be purchased through microtransactions or in-game currency earned from playing in order to build a library.
