Valve's New 'Dota 2' Card Game, 'Artifact,' Will Debut In 2018
Yet another digital card game is in the works, and this time it’s from Valve. During last night’s livestream of The International 2017 championship tournament for Dota 2, the company released a teaser clip for a new title called Artifact.
The footage didn’t show off any features, but commentator Sean “Day [9]” Plott provided a few more details about its gameplay during yesterday’s livestream. Just like Dota 2, Artifact players will have to deal with three boards, which represent the three lanes in the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA). You can deploy your five heroes to one of the three boards, and your creeps, or minions, will also make their way to each lane.
As far as combat is concerned, killing an opponent’s hero will grant you gold, which you can use to purchase items to further strengthen specific characters. You can also deploy “improvement cards,” which are spells that have lasting effects on a lane, but it seems like you will need to pay an upkeep cost every turn if you want them to stay on the battlefield.
Valve is a latecomer to the card game party where companies such as Blizzard, CD Projekt Red, and Bethesda are already making waves with Hearthstone, Gwent, and The Elder Scrolls: Legends, respectively. With Artifact, Valve wants to get in on the action while also attracting players to Dota 2 who might otherwise find the MOBA intimidating.
Aside from additional gameplay details, a major question remains on platform availability. Hearthstone and The Elder Scrolls: Legends are available across desktop and mobile devices, while Gwent is playable on desktop and consoles. We’ll see how Valve’s new game shakes out when it arrives sometime in 2018.
Name | Artifact |
---|---|
Type | Collectible cards |
Developer | Valve |
Publisher | Valve |
Platforms | N/A |
Where To Buy | N/A |
Release Date | 2018 |
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clonazepam Well I hope this new title can finally earn Valve some respect as a game developer /sReply -
Shagos Probably not, the audience booed when the trading card game message came up on the announcement video.Reply -
clonazepam Yeah, I've messed with online collectible card games going back a decade. Can't say I'm too excited about yet another.Reply -
bignastyid No mention of it being booed when it was announced? I found that rather amusing.Reply
Valve had respect as game developer then pissed it away with indefinite delays, seeming to abandon it's best IPs. At this point I have lost all hope of Valve releasing something new that I might actually play. -
cryoburner Since the article missed this detail, here was the crowd's reaction following the trailer announcing what is apparently Valve's big game for 2018...Reply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0qZTS38cjw
As a developer, Valve has been something of a joke in recent years, since they haven't actually been releasing games, or even indicating whether they might be working on anything. They seem more interested in monetizing loot drops in multiplayer titles lately. Announcing a mobile-friendly trading card game after years of no new game releases or announcements is about the last thing anyone wanted from them. It's like they have some aversion to releasing anything that isn't centered around trading items through Steam. The last time I felt excited for a Valve game announcement was with the Portal 2 teaser OVER 7 YEARS AGO, and the last big game that Valve announced was CS:GO, way back in 2011. I thought for sure they would have some big games to launch alongside the release of Steam Machines, or Steam VR, but there's been nothing so far. It kind of makes you wonder what Valve's game developers actually do. Design hats?
At least Gwent was derived from a game that already existed within the Witcher universe, and wasn't just a random cash-grab only vaguely related to its source material. And of course, the Witcher developers have actually been continuing to release great games, and have more highly anticipated games in progress, despite being a smaller company with much less resources. -
boju L4D 3 and Portal 3 were expected also, i wonder why there's nothing of them yet, would think if not HL3 then these two IPs would exist already atleast.Reply
My guess. Portal to continue in the 3rd to elaborate more on HL universe (besides being fun there was a made up reason for the game) and L4D3 to use the HL3 engine. HL3 i think is in direct connection to these two other games and the wait, for HL3 especially.
I used to be obsessed. Think i still am.