Wizards of the Coast is looking to take its mega-popular franchise into the world of mobile gaming. To do this, the company joined forces with veteran mobile developer Netmarble. The result is Magic: ManaStrike, a new game that will take the essence of Magic and bo💝il it down into something more fast-paced for the mobile market.
Magic: ManaStrike was announced earlier this week, and will be shown in more detail at South Korea's upcoming G-Star trade show. For now, we know that ManaStrike will be a "mobile synchronous combat" card game. As it's a mobile game, the emphasis is put on quick action between highly-visual characters and🐓 spell effects. There will also be a heavy collection element involvingꦓ well-known characters and spells from .
Delving further into the press release, the impression given is that ManaStrike targets more casual players with the aim of making them into hardcore Magic fans. The text makes it a point to mention that a detailed tutorial will exist, as well as easy-to-use pre-made decks. A quote from a Chief Officer of Netmarble also says that "We want to assure fans our game acts as a fresh new addition to Magic: The Gathering."
The method of achieving this goal appears to be making ManaStrike focused on speed over drawn-out strategy. Phrases like "fast play," "intense," and "action-packed" dominate the description. While it's true that many press releases go all-out on the adjectives to hype up a game, the word choice is important. Here, the wording implies a game that seeks to use stunning art and immediate payoff to excite players. Once they're invested in the trappings of Magic, they'll want 𒈔to seek out the real-life card game.
Whether it works or not will be a different story. It's not like the plan is totally out there. Nintendo stated once that its aim with mobile games is to build its console audience. There's a strong argument to be made that Pokémon GO contributed to the impressive sales of Pokémon Let's Go on the Nintendo Switch. Maybe a little taste of Magic: The Gathering will inspire some mobile gamers to goꦗ 🍬for the full meal.
Source: Netmarble