Valve is making video games again and has decided to announced the release date for their newest title, Artifact. It will be released on Steam on November 28 for $20. The trading card game is being made by Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield and is based on Dota 2 . The title is also scheduled to be shown off publicly for the first time at PAX West which will be held in Seattle from August 31 to September 3 where players can earn two free copies of the base game.
Artifact will be the first full game Valve Corporation has released since Counter Strike Global Offensive and Dota 2. Most of their games since have been collaborations, arcade games, and virtual reality experiences. The Washington-based company has not released much information about the title so far, however, there are a few details floating about. It’s a card-based game with Dota 2 characters and players will also control those heroes and creeps in three lanes of action at a time. It will also not be free-to-play.
The initial batch of shipped copies will have 280 cards, with presumably more to be added later in expansions and updates. This would make sense considering Valve’s recent foray into free-to-play games. Artifact is that players will be able to trade cards, which is another key difference. Valve will also be selling 12-card packs for $2 each when the game launches, as Arstechnica reports. The $19.99 gets you two pre-made decks of 54 cards and 10 sealed packs of cards with 12 cards each. One of those 12 is guaranteed to be a rare card. The game will also be coming to iOS and Android in 2019 but Valve did not give many details about those versions.
But what do you think? Are you excited for Valve to be making video games again? Or do you think this is nowhere near the fantastic work of the company’s past? Sound off in the comments below!
