Chris Clay, the former Game Director of Magic: The Gathering Arena, is making a significant move to the Ethereum-based trading card game, Gods Unchained. After a successful tenure with Wizards of the Coast, the creators of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), since 2016, Clay departs to join the highly anticipated blockchain title just months after his exit from the iconic company.
This fantasy-themed card game, which draws inspiration from giants like Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering, is strategically bringing an industry veteran on board to accelerate its growth and solidify its position in the market. The game's developer, Immutable (formerly known as Fuel Games), is currently conducting its "Genesis Sale," allowing players to acquire the first-ever edition of core cards before the official launch.
A company representative has hailed the game as the "top-grossing blockchain game this year," having raised over $1.2 million during its initial card offering. CryptoSlate had the exclusive opportunity to interview Chris Clay and co-founder Robbie Ferguson to discuss their vision for the future of the company and the game.
"I first discovered Magic: The Gathering in the back of my mom's minivan during a break at a 3-on-3 basketball tournament back in the summer of '94. My passion for gaming eventually led me to Turbine Entertainment, where I spent the first 15 years of my career working on MMOs like Asheron's Call 1 & 2 and The Lord of the Rings Online," Clay recounted.
…
"Throughout that time, I continued to play card games. With the arrival of Magic Online, I often thought I could build a better digital client, and when the opportunity arose, I jumped at it. MTG: Arena was the result of that ambition."
He continued:
"Leaving was a deeply personal and difficult decision, but I knew I needed a fresh start to be at my best, so I made the choice to step away. With no immediate plans to work on another CCG, I just focused on getting back in shape. When Robbie reached out, I was curious to learn more about their project. After speaking with him and then James, it was clear I had found my tribe. The world of possibilities they presented for where we could take Gods Unchained and gaming with this new technology blew my mind, and so here we are."
"I believe anyone familiar with digital or physical CCGs will be able to quickly adapt to and enjoy Gods Unchained," Clay responded.
…
"There are new mechanics and keywords to learn, and a brand-new meta to explore with our take on mana system. A huge difference is that because the assets are on the blockchain, you won't find the typical loot box and microtransaction traps that have become an industry standard," he emphasized.
…
"We don't focus on tricking people in, monetizing them as aggressively as possible, and then searching for a new user when they quit. With the player community owning the majority of the game's assets, we focus on welcoming them to the game and integrating them into the community so they stay and enjoy the game for a long time to come," he concluded.
"I've believed for a long time that the community is key to an online game's success, and I've often spent much of my own time interacting with the communities for games I've worked on," Clay said.
…
"I've also seen some of the most successful new genres, from Battle Royales to Auto Battlers to MOBAs, all evolve from the communities around successful games. With our approach to items on the blockchain, I believe we can empower the modders, website builders, streamers, and content creators to share in the success of the game in a way that has never been done before," he added.
"If someone wants to create a four-player version of our client using the blockchain assets, then they can. Without our permission," Clay said emphatically. "If someone wants to create an auto-battler based on the blockchain assets, they can. If another developer wants to let players trade our blockchain assets for items in their game—they once again can, without our permission."
…
"This is one part terrifying and three parts excitement because we've unshackled the trapped value that almost all game economies currently rely on. I believe this also brings a level of trust to the industry that has been missing."
"Everything to do with trading and asset ownership is on the blockchain. The content of every tradable card, including their stats, is on there, and the card pack contracts are fully transparent and immutable—you can see the probabilities for the mixed cards and qualities and have a full guarantee we can't alter them," responded co-founder Robbie Ferguson.
…
"The games themselves run in Unity on centralized servers, as it's practically impossible to run the state of a game as complex as Gods Unchained in a fully decentralized way (not to mention prohibitively expensive)," he continued.
"The winner of an esports event will not only get to enjoy the victory and prize money, but the items they used will be known to have been used by the champion. They can digitally sign in-game assets and then sell them to fans," said Clay.
…
"Not only can you copy a championship-winning deck of cards, but you can now own the actual championship-winning deck. Provenance brings a level of collectibility that we haven't seen before in games and leads to unexpected surprises when you discover that the card you bought was previously owned by one of your favorite personalities. I can't wait to see what streamers, content creators, and e-sports stars and teams do with it."
Chris Clay responded, saying:
"As with any new technology, adoption comes in waves, and we're looking to facilitate the next wave of blockchain adoption by removing the technical hurdles to interact with it. By enabling debit and credit card purchases, we can streamline the acquisition of NFTs [non-fungible tokens] and allow gamers to enjoy the game first."
He continued:
"When they're ready to engage with the trading economy, we'll be there guiding them along the path to marketplaces and being there to help alleviate any concerns they have. I also believe that the technology will allow the community itself to create digital game stores and the like, giving players a true choice on where they want to shop and trade."
Gods Unchained is currently in balancing beta and is open for public play. The game is due to fully launch in October of 2019.
