Artifact, the DOTA card game released by Valve on 26th November, seems to have lost a greater majority of its playerbase since launch. The funny thing is, it hasn’t been even a month since launch, and player numbers are already looking grim, occasionally dripping to four digits.
The main problems related to Artifact was its monetization scheme. The game locks basic gameplay behind a $20 paywall, and throws in some packs, event tickets, and two sample decks as a “reward” for passing through the paywall. Considering the fact that Artifact was made to dethrone Hearthstone and Magic The Gathering by targetting not only the gameplay but also the monetization scheme, the falling player count is a sad news for Valve,who has come back to game development after a long time. Apparently, Artifact won’t be dethroning anyone, and certainly not Hearthstone, which celebrated a total of 10 million players last month.
If you want more information on the problems related to Artifact’s monetization scheme, be sure to check our article about it.