Creators of Popular Card Game Secretly Bring New Title to Steam – “Fun Mix of Magic and Hearthstone”

When a game is released, it is often associated with new trailers and advertising. But now a new card game appeared almost secretly on Steam and mobile devices. For many it looks like a mixture of the popular titles Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering.

What kind of game is this? Magic Spellsingers is a new online trading card game from the creators of the popular Magic: The Gathering (MTG). The F2P title was released on August 5th on Steam and mobile devices.

Magic Spellsingers is based on a selection of 16 characters, each with their own playstyle and individual abilities.

At the beginning of the game you have to complete a tutorial, which you can complete to unlock your first hero. The Spellsinger you choose also brings you a starter deck with 30 cards, with which you can then fight your first fights.

“I can’t believe how quietly this was released”

Why does it seem like a secret release? On the one hand there is the subjective perception. With the release of a digital trading card game one expects masses of advertising on one’s smartphone in a certain way these days. But Magic Spellsingers is currently not very present either in front of the YouTube video that you want to watch or as a bar in the upper half of the screen – at least that’s how it seems.

However, a look at the numbers is much more meaningful. Magic Spellsingers advertises itself by stating “From the creators of Magic: The Gathering” (cf Steam) and is distributed by the publisher Wizards of the Coast.

With the radiance behind Magic Spellsingers, we expect enormous reach. For example, let’s look at the official Magic: The Gathering YouTube channel (via YouTube), we see views in the tens of millions.

• War of the Spark Official Trailer – Magic: The Gathering: 13 million views (via YouTube)
• Official Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Cinematic – Magic: The Gathering: 19 million views (via YouTube)
• Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Official Trailer – Magic: The Gathering: 29 million views
• Innistrad: Crimson Union Official Cinematic – Magic: The Gathering: 17 million views

This compares to the official trailer of Magic Spellsingers (via YouTube) with just 17,700 (as of August 17, 2022) rather bad, almost insignificant there. The trailer isn’t bad at all.

In addition, the MTG channel has 529,000 subscribers, while Magic Spellsingers only has 234 (as of August 17, 2022, 2:00 p.m.).

Of course, one shouldn’t forget that the MTG channel was founded back in 2006 and the comparison is therefore quite unfair, but the Spellsingers account has also existed since March 2019. It seems as if Publisher Wizards of the Coast is exploring the possibilities of the MTG franchises are not fully exploited and this is also reflected in some comments on YouTube:

Unbelievable. One of the biggest gaming franchises of all time has launched a mobile game and the trailer has a whopping 12,000 views after being out for 2 days. They have a whopping 191 subscribers. If you told me this was pirated, I would believe it. I don’t have particularly strong feelings about the game because it’s only Hearthstone because they want you to spend more money. It’s just unbelievable to me how quietly this has been released.

Sam Kirk via YouTube

Magic Spellsingers divides players

How does Magic Spellsingers arrive? Magic Spellsingers reviews are currently rather underwhelming. Overall user reviews on Steam are balanced. Of the just 101 reviews, 60% are positive. This is what the players write about their ratings:

• mdschgel via Steam: It’s not pay-to-win until you rank above gold. It’s a fun mix of Magic and Heartstone.”
• HBlaze3 via Steam: “Not for MTG players or MTG: Arena players […]”
• manick via Steam: “I wish I could give this game something like a 3 star rating. The game is fun, but unless you’re spending money on cards, it’s really hard to compete.
• Orangeluigi via Steam: “It’s a complete Hearthstone ripoff – literally the same mechanics. Wizards of the Coast put zero marketing/ad money behind it so the player base is tiny.”
• Africa Zulu via Steam: “Maybe the game is similar to Hearthstone, but who cares? The game is fun and that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?”
• wiz via Steam: “I was pleasantly surprised at how this game blends Hearthstone and Magic, resulting in a game that has the flow of a Hearthstone match and the strategic thinking of a Magic game.”

Magic Spellsingers doesn’t seem to have gotten off to a perfect start. Neither the views on YouTube nor the reviews stand out particularly positively.

Do you think the card game will still get its hype and be able to compete with big titles like MTG or Hearthstone, or do you think the title will fade into obscurity soon? Write it to us here on MeinMMO in the comments!

Are you still looking for alternatives to Hearthstone and Magic? Then you might be interested in our list of the 5 best online card games!