Twenty-five years old and as popular as ever, Magic: The Gathering, is already a pre-launch favorite.
Since its creation in 1993, the tabletop card game Magic has generated 38 million fans and is available in 11 languages in more than 70 countries, according to its creator, Hasbro. An online offering is due out later this year: Magic: The Gathering Arena (MTG Arena). Hasbro and its subsidiary, Wizards of the Coast, are testing an open beta version and report over a billion games already played. Analysts expect three million users by the end of 2020 and 11 million by 2021, after Hasbro releases a mobile version.
MTG: The Animated Series
The team working on the animated series is Joe and Anthony Russo. The Russos stated they’ve been fans of the card game from the beginning. For Netflix, they’ll be creating the story arcs for the Planeswalkers, the heroes and villains of Magic, for Netflix. The collaboration with the Russos is designed to breathe new life into an already rich palette of characters. Previously, the Russo brothers directed Avengers: Infinity Wars and Avengers: Endgame.
According to Chris Cocks, president of Wizards of the Coast, the Magic franchise is as popular now as it’s ever been, thanks to multiple releases such as War of the Spark and its digital incarnation (MTG Arena).
Hasbro’s shares are up since the announcement.
