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The inevitable end to Magic Spellslingers has come, Magic: The Gathering's attempt at a Hearthstone equivalent. As of June 4, 2024, the game will be shut down and existing players can claim 1,500 MTG Arena gems. We have the full scoop below!
What is Magic Spellslingers?
Magic Spellslingers is a digital collectable card game officially launched globally in August 10, 2022. Originally ambitiously titled “Valor’s Reach”, the game has also been in a long soft launch since 2019. It was designed as a mobile card battler similar to games like Hearthstone, but with Magic's intellectual property.
Magic Spellslingers Announces Sunset
Since its global launch, Magic Spellslingers has received sporadic updates and limited support. Its last major update was on March 14, 2023, introducing a few new Spellslingers (the equivalent of Heroes) and barely any new cards along the way but obviously not enough to keep players interested. With that, the servers will be shut down on June 4, 2024.
It is with both gratitude and sorrow that we are announcing the sunset of Magic Spellslingers.
Starting March 6, all in-game cash purchases will be turned off. The game servers will continue to operate until noon Pacific time on June 4, 2024.
This has been an amazing journey for all of us; we thank you all for playing and enjoying our game.
— The Spellslingers Team
Thank You for Playing
1,500 MTG Arena Gems
As a small bonus, a gift of 1,500 MTG Arena Gems are available to claim for players who first played Magic Spellslingers before March 6, 2024 (i.e. this announcement). You may have briefly tried the game at some point, so make sure to check!
We want to show our appreciation for your continued support of Magic Spellslingers with a gift of 1,500 Magic: The Gathering Arena gems.
If eligible, follow the steps below to claim your gift:
- Link your Spellslingers account to your Wizards account
- Sign in to Magic: The Gathering Arena before March 25, 2024
Once that's done, simply log in to Arena any time after March 29 to receive your 1,500 gems.
Click here if you need help linking Spellslingers to your Wizards account.
Click the appropriate option below to download Magic: The Gathering Arena
A Gift for Playing
Conclusion
At its core, Magic Spellslingers was not a bad game by any stretch (we even we covered the game briefly on MTG Arena Zone). Unfortunately, it is eerily similar to what Warcraft Rumble is going through right now with Blizzard, and shows it is not enough to just mimic a successful game these days.
The writing was on the wall even before its release, as its outdated concept and lack of promotion could not compete with the likes of Marvel Snap or even Hearthstone that has been adding new game modes to keep players engaged. Even card games with a big backing such as Legends of Runeterra are winding down their development significantly due to lack players and revenue. We've seen numerous others such as DC Dual Force, Eternal, Gwent, Duelyst, Artifact, and many more end their services eventually.
Furthermore, Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast has undergone a big layoff this year, and it also affected MTG Arena. With communication and game issues being more apparent than it was before, while MTG Arena is not likely to shut down like Magic Spellslingers anytime soon, it seems to be barely keeping up with just adding new cards to the client.
Having said all that, it's not all doom and gloom for card gamers. It seems actual tabletop physical trading card games are still in demand more than ever. Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon (just announcing a new mobile version of its card game), and Yu-Gi-Oh! are going stronger than ever after more than 20 years, and new ones such as One Piece Card Game and Disney Lorcana are in high demand.
So the problem? Free to play mobile games is a tough market!