MaRo: No truth to claims that MTG players are fed up with Universes Beyond due to ‘product fatigue’

Wizards of the Coast helmsman Mark Rosewater said this week that only seven percent of respondents Magic: The Gathering Players dislike the crossover-oriented Universes Beyond product line so much that they want it to be discontinued.

Universes Beyond merges one of the world’s most popular trading card games with brands or universes outside of what we know as MTGBut in an effort to reach an even wider audience, longtime fans of MTG have complained of experiencing “product fatigue” amid an overwhelming amount of crossovers between popular IPs and the game. Rosewater was quick to push back on the idea in an August 25 blog post, suggesting the subset of MTG The number of fans who don’t like Universes Beyond and would like to see the idea torn apart is quite small.

“We’ve done a lot of market research on Universes Beyond, (and) how much players like Universes Beyond tend to vary from property to property,” said Rosewater, who detailed the factors that determine how successful an external IP is when MTG comes knocking. The comment was directed at a fan who said that they really like the map changes and WotC’s attempts to expand beyond the general universe, but that they didn’t like being “forced to use those IPs to get certain mechanical advantages.”

Rosewater continued, saying that not every Universes Beyond product made its mark, but that the design team adhered to three key philosophies when creating a new set around a different IP: “The three biggest indicators: are they a fan of the property, does it do justice to the property, and does it feel like it belongs to Magic while they think about Magic?”

There have certainly been more successful Universes Beyond sets than others; The Lord of the Ring was one of the best-received sets in recent memory, due to the design team’s focus on flavor and competitive viability, but consistency is key and some releases since then, players believe, have missed the mark. Ultimately, what every MTG player wants to get out of an IP recording MTG varies—but oversaturation is becoming a major problem. “With the UB growing, everyone now has to deal with something they don’t like,” said one player.

The previously mentioned product fatigue is another problem. Bloomburrow was released less than a month ago, but all focus has shifted to the next Standard set release Twilight Mourning end of September. Between Standard releases, UB sets, Secret Lairs, various Commander products and more, there’s just “no time to let sets breathe.”

Add to that rising costs and it’s clear why a divide is developing between veterans who are original MTG content, Universes Beyond fans, and everyone else. Time, and the likely success of future UB releases, will tell if this gap widens.