Aging Players
I may be rehashing the same argument but let's face it: Magic is getting old. No other trading card game has thrived for more than a decade and retain the same group of players who have quit only to come back some day later. Equipped with a bunch of old cards printed years ago, these older players find it easier to build and play Legacy decks.And this does not only happen to players who have quit before. Newer players who started out playing Standard will face format rotation every year. Sure, those that have not liquidated their Standard cards before the rotation can still use them for Extended (eh... double-standard) but face it, those cards will eventually be played only in Legacy and beyond. Sooner or later, most of your cards will eventually be playable only in Legacy and you'll join the dark side. (This is also a reason why EDH is getting so popular nowadays – all of us have the cards for an EDH deck!)
Now the problem with this is that without incoming new blood, Magic will grow to reflect its current player base as the days go past. We've already seen it with the increasing prices: As us players grow up and enter the workforce, we have greater income to fuel our hobby and buy the Power 9, duals, and FoWs to stroke our ego. (Another reason behind rising card prices is the increased support for Legacy events, e.g. SCG Open Series.)
If I'm right about this, then Magic will reflect changes as players grow up, get married, have kids, and find that they have to babysit their kids (hello deliang!) instead of slinging cardboard. Trader-wannabes may find out that returns from the stock/future/option/warrant market is substantially more than that by speculating what's the next card to be unbanned. And shop-owners may find that Magic Online is eating into their profits right when the pie is divided up when some players venture into making their hobby a business.
Magic as we know it will be dead. It's just a matter of when and how.
Whats in MTG's Future
Imagine you're Wizards and you have a popular product churning out cash from its udder. The problem is that the cash cow will probably become a beaten dog in a decade or so. What would you do?Strategy 1: Squeeze all the profits out of it (and run)
If you are the executive behind Magic and your bonus depends on how much the product sells, this is what you'd probably do. You'll churn out dozens of new products: intro packs, duel decks, foil decks, event decks, all foil sets, and maybe even a movie/comic featuring your favorite planeswalking character. You'll develop new sets filled with multicolored cards, broken creatures, artifacts, and spells (heck with the power-creep!). You might even want to create a franchise out of it.
Strategy 2: Extend the life of the product with new innovation
As players grow old and can spend less time playing in shops with their friends, make it easier for them to continue playing by having an online version of the game! You can also tap into other platforms that make the game more portable (handheld console) than bringing a deck of 60 cards. Players want to make their hobby a business? Make it easier for them to do so. Make the product sell for as long as it can.
Strategy 3: Cross sell your product and move your market
You've done everything and the product is still getting nowhere? Well then, move your market over to the next new product. Create another game that meets your players' needs and sell it to the current players. Make it a smooth transition to the new game, then grow the new product and sell the dying one to another company before it loses all its value.
For me, I don't really like the above strategies as much as simply recruiting newer players. The nerd inside me sees slinging cardboard around the dinner table a really fun way to mix around and interact with friends and I welcome newer players. So Wizards, if you're reading this, market this excellent game to the younger population and get more fresh young blood (especially of the female variety) to play! Tweet this!
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