Valve's Artifact to Feature No F2P Elements Whatsoever

Last month, Valve had finally announced the release date for their new card game Artifact, which will be launching on Steam on November 28th with a retail price of $20. In a recent interview, Valve discusses what to expect from the game, namely that all cards can only be obtained by real money purchases through in-game microtransactions, or through other players by buying on the Steam marketplace or trading directly with each other.

That means essentially, there are no free-to-play mechanics in obtaining cards other than the initial 2 starter decks and 10 randoms packs that you receive upon purchase of the game. Richard Garfield, the lead game designer on Artifact, who is also most known for his involvement in creating Magic: The Gathering, explains his decision to eliminate the F2P grind.

"Free play always comes along with suboptimal experiences, because you have to sacrifice something for free play. What we were after was something where you could shift your collection around freely, but you felt you had an investment in a piece of the game."

Garfield's decision is unconventional, and harkens back to a much more old school style of physical trading card games, an experience he aims to re-create.

"The market is really a key piece of this game, it's one of the main things we thought was interesting about it... You see so many digital card games that don't allow you to actually have the ability to trade cards with other players, or to say, 'This is the specific card I want' and then go get it. So with the market you can buy individual cards you want, or you can buy individual packs."

Blizzard's Hearthstone is arguably the most successful title of the online card game genre. Drawing from the lore and assets of its already established World of Warcraft franchise, Blizzard's existing fanbase coupled with the accessibility of multi-platform play and the low barriers to entry in its F2P model has made it wildly profitable. While Artifact being in the same genre has drawn some inevitable comparisons between the two, Garfield explains the different approach to the genre that he is taking.

"Having Hearthstone appeal to an audience that is maybe very new to card games is great, because it's creating a bunch of people who will be excited about other types of card games they've never played before.

We really [support] serious play, it's a very interesting to watch develop. We see serious play as being a tentpole under which anything goes. We don't want it to be narrow. We want it to be so you feel like you can play with your friends or who you want to play.

But there's also this aspect of serious play that some might want to participate in. One example I like to go back to is the NBA. The NBA is very serious, but, without the NBA you wouldn't have nearly as much casual play, and a lot of those players are going to sleep and dreaming they are going to be in the NBA. So we expect to back serious play, because we think that this game supports it, but that's not where we think everybody belongs."

Artifact seems determined to buck the trend when it comes to the current state of the gaming industry, one that is focused on catering to an increasingly casual audience, something which more often than not compromises the integrity of the game's original vision. While Artifact's ambitions in appealing to a niche market of "serious players" may be lofty, with Valve's track record in producing AAA titles and Dota 2's immense popularity, the game will be a likely success regardless of its unconventional trajectory.

As of right now, Artifact will be launching with the core game only, with no other frills or features. Whether or not Valve's gamble will pay off, it will be interesting to see what direction Artifact will take in the future. Check out the video below for a preview of an Artifact match in action, complete with 4K resolution and an amazing in-game soundtrack.