Valve teased the upcoming Artifact beta changes last week, revealing that it was overhauling the digital card in light of the recent success from Riot’s Legends of Runeterra open beta.
And today the company dropped a roadmap of plans regarding the upcoming new and revised Artifact 2.0.
The official roadmap of Artifact 2.0 has already begun, with several streamers like Kozmic and CHARM3R acquiring closed beta keys this afternoon. Valve hasn’t released an open beta date as of yet, but there are plans in the works.
- Test and send out closed beta invites.
- Work on closed beta with a transition towards open beta.
- Leave beta quicker than Dota 2.
Also noted in today’s reveal was a hint at a monetization system that doesn’t include the selling of cards, along with changes that would allow players access to all three lanes at once and a new Draft mode.
“We’ve also focused on making the game easier to pick up,” Valve said. “We aren’t selling cards, so you won’t face an opponent with a stacked deck. We’ve also added a new draft mode, Hero Draft, that gives you a taste of constructing decks without all the pressure.”
Players will earn cards via gameplay. But those who spent money within the previous version of Artifact, are essentially losing those cards permanently. Old cards are no longer valid due to the number of changes that have been made, according to Valve. It’s still $19.99 to purchase Artifact. Players who already own the game won’t have to purchase it again.
