Magic: Legends, the upcoming Magic: the Gathering action RPG from Cryptic Studios, is set to enter Open Beta on March 23, 2021 on PC.
Legends was originally announced at the 2019 Game Awards as a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game set in Magic’s multiverse. However, as more details have been released about the game, Cryptic has stopped calling the game an MMO and instead referring to it as a “persistent online action RPG.”
Early impressions of the game reveal that it is comparable to Diablo-style action RPGs with an additional deck-building component. You select a class—which roughly align with one of Magic’s five colors—and then build a 12-card deck of spells. Those cards are randomly “drawn” into your character’s four spell slots, where they can be used to summon creatures or cast spells.
Magic: Legends will be a free-to-play game. Players will begin with access to one of the game’s classes, with the others accessible via a cash purchase or grinding in-game currency. Similarly, randomized packs of cards to expand your arsenal of spells will be available for both cash and in-game currency.
The game’s Beta period had previously been slated for 2020 but Cryptic announced last September that it was delaying the Beta to 2021. Instead, Cryptic held two Alpha testing periods with over 100,000 players participating and providing feedback. There will be one final Alpha testing period before the Open Beta begins—you can sign up at www.playmagiclegends.com for your chance to participate.
Cryptic Studios says that Magic: Legends will officially launch “later this year” on PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4.