Magic: Legends is closing down six months after entering open beta
The action RPG deckbuilder failed to find an audience
Magic: Legends is closing down. The action RPG entered open beta just three months ago, but its servers will be switched off for good three months from now, on October 31st 2021.
"It is with heavy hearts that we announce Magic: Legends will be shutting down," begins the brief post on the Magic Legends blog.
"All players who spent money in-game across Arc and the Epic Games Store during the Open Beta will be refunded their full purchase amounts. Servers will remain open for play until closing day, however we will be closing the Zen Shop effective immediately. Later this week, all items will instead be purchasable using Aether, our free in-game currency."
There's a brief FAQ at the end of the post that confirms the obvious: the game's closure puts the kibosh on plans to bring the game to Steam or consoles.
Magic: Legends was an action-RPG that combined the genre with deckbuilding elements from its Magic: the Gathering routes, but it has been heavily criticised during its beta for its design, stability and use of microtransactions. It was developed by Cryptic Studios, who are responsible for long-running MMOs such as Star Trek Online and Neverwinter, and defunct MMOs Champions Online and City Of Heroes.
I never played Magic: Legends, but I'm always sad for the developers involved when a live service game is shut down so quickly. It was announced back in 2017 that Cryptic were making a Magic: the Gathering game, and four years is a long time to work on something that will only be playable for a total of six months.
For now, you can continue to grab the Magic: Legends open beta from its official site