Magic players rebel against MTG Arena’s new microtransactions 

Modern Horizons 3’s arrival on MTG Arena has been hotly anticipated by Magic: The Gathering’s player base. The set’s cards have proven to be hugely popular in paper Magic, and Arena players will soon get their hands on them. 

However, a cloud may have been cast over Modern Horizons 3’s launch, with exclusive rewards that players will only have access to if they pay for them. 

MTG Arena has always run on monetization, with players paying money for Gems that are used to purchase digital card packs, cosmetics, draft unlocks, and more.

While a degree of monetization is often included in online TCG platforms, additional ways of influencing players to spend their money should always be viewed with skepticism. The problem that MTG Arena players are having ahead of Modern Horizons 3, revolves around a new feature called Psychic Frog’s Horizon Hideaway.  

WotC

Charming name aside, this extra tab in MTG Arena’s in-game storefront comes as an alternative to a Mastery pass, given that Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s Mastery Pass is still ongoing. 

The Hideaway is packed with great features at first glance, offering players the ability to unlock packs, cosmetics, and more. However, this prize-filled package is differentiated from MTG Arena’s regular Mastery Pass in one key area: it has no free track.  

The Mastery Pass system certainly encourages players to pay for the premium pass by placing its rewards in plain sight, but at least the free version of the pass still comes with rewards. 

Tickets for the hideaway, the in-game currency used to unlock its rewards are obtained through regular Arena gameplay. Fortunately, it can be easy to rack up a whole pile of them rather quickly. However, with the Mastery Pass, players will be unable to do anything with this steadily growing currency — unless they pay a fixed amount of 2800 Gems to unlock the Hideaway. 

To make matters worse, this fixed amount cannot simply be paid for outright with cash, the Gem-based unlock is an unfortunate necessity. The price of the Hideaway is not equal to any single Gem bundle in the store, meaning that players must splash out on multiple sets of Gems to afford the Hideaway’s goodies. 

Players on the MTG Arena subreddit are voicing their displeasure with the Hideaway, with some calling it “predatory.” 

As brought up by the original commenter: “You always earn stuff you can’t spend. Every few minutes you get a reminder that you have that currency and you can’t spend it.” 

One user followed up on this, saying, “I agree that the constant reminders that you have earned currency that you can’t spend without a lump sum payment are tacky.” 

Commander may reign supreme among MTG’s in-person formats, but Arena remains a home for one-time favorites like Standard, providing a variety of play options that paper Magic increasingly lacks. 

Interestingly enough, the Modern format does not exist on Arena, so players will be putting the set’s cards to use in other popular formats like Standard and Historic.  

While Modern Horizons 3’s MTG Arena launch should be a celebration of the set’s excellent Limited environment, it’s a shame to see early buzz marred by something as unfriendly as additional microtransactions.