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Sometime last week, Valve had reportedly laid off 14 of its employees. We later learned that one of those employees was Richard Garfield. Richard Garfield is famous for creating Magic: The Gathering back in 1993 as well as many card games and board games, including Artifact. Garfield was responsible for the core concepts of Artifact.
Artifact has its lowest player count right now since its release. With the game's digital economy, on top of a $20 price tag, it's no wonder that the game hasn't seen enough players. Is the future of Artifact bleak and hopeless?
Garfield explained that " we weren't surprised by the layoff considering how rocky the launch was.” He works for another company and not directly with Valve. Valve has also been quiet about Artifact's release notes and updates. The few fans that are left are desperately clinging on, hoping that there will be a better future.
Also read: DOTA 2 - 6 heroes that synergize with Mars
Artifact itself is not a bad game. In fact, the concept is more unique and balanced compared to many other CCGs and TCGs out there. It has a slight learning curve but people didn't think it was worth $20 and additional costs.
Valve is keeping a close eye on Dota 2's custom game, Auto Chess. Auto Chess has been a huge success for Dota 2, which saw the game having a record number of players in a long time. Many streamers who played different games such as Hearthstone ended up playing Auto Chess for a while on their stream. Auto Chess is the most played Custom Game in Dota 2.
Valve's best option to keep Artifact alive is to give it a free to play option. It is very Activision-like to have a paid product which has so many additional content players need to purchase. They can rework the game economy to better suit players to make it more profitable, but also more accessible.
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