Exclusive interview with Magic: The Gathering developer

Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 is finally out - so we were delighted to have the opportunity to interview Worth Wollpert,director of the Magic Digital Studio at Wizards of the Coast and executiveproducer for Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012.

TechDay: Magic: The Gatheringhas a huge following, how difficult was it to create a video game which will both please the fans of the original card game, and be open to new playersthat have never played the original version?

WorthWollpert: It was definitely a challenge, but we have some of the best gamingminds in the world working here in R&D, as well as a great partner inStainless Games over in the UK. So between my team, our R&D folks andStainless, I think we got to a place that delivers on everything you’vementioned. There are a lot of folks out there with a box of cards under theirbed, in their attic, at their parents’ house, and we wanted to make sure theinitial pull of the game was strong enough to attract those people and that thefirst 10 minutes in the experience was accessible enough to not intimidate newplayers. Once players give Duels 2012 a try, I’m convinced they’ll stay. Magicitself does the heavy lifting for us there in that regard, and one of thereasons I love my job is because I just know that Magic as a game is anunmatched battle of wits in the strategy gaming area, and for that reason alonesometimes people are drawn to it.

TD: What are some ofthe challenges you faced in converting such a popular card game to a digital format? 

WW:The user interface and user experience are always the frontline challenge inconverting a mainly analog gaming property over to the digital world.Fortunately we had a lot of experience and lessons to draw from on the originaland successful Duels of the Planeswalkers game, as well as our own Magic Onlineproduct that’s been out for many years now. Again the UI/UX folks we have onstaff here combined with the talented folks at Stainless really knocked it outof the park on the user experience I think. One of the things that was veryimportant for me to stress to my team this time around was to learn everythingwe could from the previous game, and I think we’ve taken a really solidfoundation and built on that well.

TD: Players of theMagic: The Gathering card game will no doubt be wondering why there is nooption for creating a totally custom deck from the decks you have unlocked inthe campaign setting rather than adding cards to the themed deck itself. Whywas this feature not included in Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012?

WW:It was important to us to stress accessibility, as I mentioned above. Findingthe right line between giving engaged users enough without giving the newplayers too much is always very challenging, in any digital application,especially games. It was important to us that the experience be relativelystress-free and that the playing field remain pretty level. That said, we didopen up the deck customization in Duels 2012. Now you can edit the core decksonce you’ve got some options in your deck manager after you’ve played, won, andunlocked some additional cards. Basically, we just wanted to be 100% sure thatnew players’ first steps into head-to-head play were as fair and balanced aspossible. If full customization is what you’re looking for once you’ve played abunch of Duels 2012, we have several reasons in-game to encourage users to headto their local game store, the first and most obvious being to redeem yourpromo code at the store for the free-while-supplies-last alternate art foilpromo Titan cards from the Magic 2012 Core Set. The other big nudge to go toyour store is a little bit of a secret, and you’ll need to play through thegame to find out, but I think Gideon will be in touch with some directions.

TD: Will there bedownloadable content planned for the game and will it be available on allplatforms? Are there any plans to release expansion packs that tie in with thenew card sets as they come out?

WW:For DLC our plans are not public yet, but I can say we definitely plan to offerit. As of this writing, the game is live on XBLA and PSN America, with PSNEurope and Steam coming later today assuming all goes well. PSN Japan will beavailable late this month as well on June 30th. As far as plans totie into new card sets, I can’t say too much about that yet other than thenotion certainly makes a lot of sense.

TD: What is your favourite deck or card of the game?, do you have anyinsider hints or tips to pass on to readers?

WW: My favourite deck is definitelyGideon’s. I like equipment, so his deck fully unlocked is a blast to play with.As far as insider hints, I unfortunately don’t have much to give you other thanto mention as I said before, once you get far enough along the ladder, Gideonis going to show up with some news for you about a special Planeswalkergathering, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled once you start climbing yourway up the ladder. And lastly, make sure you try the new multiplayer modeArchenemy, especially with friends since our new enhanced co-op means you guyscan all be in different locations to get together online and team up againstthe archenemy. That’s probably my favourite game mode.

TD: Thanks for takingthe time to talk to us, Duels 2012 sounds really exciting.

WW: Thanks forletting me talk with you guys! Early reviews are really positive, so hopefullyyou guys have as much fun playing it as we did making it.

More information on Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers can be found here.

TechDay will have a full review soon!