Sakura-Tribe Elder: “I Will Fight No More Forever” 
Microsoft Acquires Magic: the Gathering Brand, Announces Magic 8
REDMOND, Washington – Jul. 25, 2012 – Microsoft Corp. today announced their acquisition of the publishing rights to the trading card game Magic: the Gathering from Renton-based Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro Corp. “It seemed like a natural fit,” said Don Mattrick, president of the interactive entertainment business at Microsoft. “We’re in your living room with Xbox, in your tabletop with Surface, and now, with Magic 8, we can be on your tabletop, too.”
Starting with Magic 8, the new Metro card layout will replace the Modern card frame. The design follows the other products in the Microsoft tablet-top experience. “We’ve designed Magic 8 to give you instant access to your stats, your abilities, and the information you care about so you can spend less time searching the card and more time doing what you actually want to do. We’ve made rules text a first-class citizen. Playing with the cards is fast and fluid, with updates to card text happening in real time,” Mattrick said.
“Magic 8 represents a reimagining of Magic from the cardboard to the experience,” said Tina Gaffney, a spokesperson for the Magic 8 team. “The Magic 8 designers have had a ball making it. Will the players have a ball playing it? All signs point to yes. But don’t worry – we’re not neglecting our online players. Magic Online and Duels of the Planeswalkers for Xbox will support a fully-integrated experience with Magic 8. And we’re planning some backend improvements to Duels of the Planeswalkers for Playstation and Steam that should bring those players’ experiences much closer to playing Magic Online today.”
The Magic 8 Consumer Preview is set to release in September, with a full release planned in December. With Microsoft Surface integration for each card, the MSRP of a Magic 8 booster pack is expected to be $69.99 – well under the price point for Apple’s recently-announced iMajica trading card game offering. The Good Gamery staff are thrilled at the news and will continue to report on new developments as they flow out of Redmond.
