Magic: Legends, the ARPG that combined Diablo-style aesthetics with the card game mechanics of Magic: The Gathering, will shut down October 31.
In a statement, executive producer Steve Ricossa said, “Our vision for Magic: Legends missed the mark, but we are proud of what we achieved.”
In addition to the formal shutdown of servers, the announcement also noted that anyone who made in-game purchases either through Arc Games or the Epic Games Store would receive a full refund. From now until shutdown, items will be purchasable with the in-game currency Aether instead of real money.
Developed by Cryptic Studios, Magic: Legends is a top-down RPG that sought to marry elements of Diablo’s action combat with Magic: The Gathering’s deck building. To fight, players chose a class associated with a mana colour and built a deck with special cards that either summoned monsters to fight alongside or powerful spells that directly damaged opponents. Players also had access to extremely powerful and resource-expensive class-based abilities similar to an ultimate ability in Overwatch or League of Legends.
The game had a mission-based structure in which you’d travel to different planes completing objectives to unlock rewards, equipment upgrades, and bits of story.
Read More: Magic: Legends Makes Diablo-Style Combat Feel Like, Well, Magic
Magic: Legends was announced in 2019 and released in open beta March of this year. The game’s open beta launch was met with complaints about load times, an overly long tutorial, and powerful features, like a new class, being locked behind a paywall. Cryptic took steps to address these concerns but now it seems like the game was never able to fully recover.
When Legends’ servers shut down in October, the game will have only been available for seven months. In the FAQ released with the shutdown announcement, Cryptic Studios said that there were no plans to bring back Legends at a later time.
Kotaku reached out for comment, but a spokesperson said they would not be making any additional statements.
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