Interview: Dan Barrett

Hoofd community Magic the Gathering Europa

Interview

Leoni Santbergen | maandag 8 Dec 2014, 7:39

Sinds kort kunnen we ook op de Xbox One genieten van Magic 2015: Duels of the Planeswalkers. Dit spel is de nieuwste digitale versie van het populaire kaartspel Magic: the Gathering. XBW heeft voor jou het spel gerecenseerd, Casper's review is hier te vinden. Daarnaast hebben we ook gesproken met Dan Barrett, hij geeft wat meer inzicht in het spel en de ideeën er omheen. Dan legt ons uit wat Magic 2015 ons te bieden heeft en wat we in de toekomst kunnen verwachten.

Please introduce yourself: who are you and how are you involved in the Magic: the Gathering video game series?
I’m Dan Barrett, and I’m responsible for Magic’s community here in Europe – our fans of both the digital and face-to-face games.

What are, according to you, the unique elements of Magic 2015 and the reasons for players to get the game?
Magic 2015 – Duels of the Planeswalkers is the best way to start playing the world’s best strategy game, and for the first time, it features fully open-ended deck-building. You have one collection of hundreds of cards, and can play these together in whatever combination and strategy you wish. There’s also an immersive storyline running throughout the game, pitting you against the greatest hunter in the Multiverse, Garruk.

"We really wanted to continue telling Garruk’s story from where we last saw him"

The Magic video games usually have one main antagonist, with Garruk being the bad guy in the 2015 release? Why was he chosen for this game?
We really wanted to continue telling Garruk’s story from where we last saw him, veil-cursed by Liliana on Innistrad. As a Planeswalker who is out for the blood of other Planeswalkers (including YOU, the player), he’s a pretty formidable adversary!

Players of Magic 2015 now have the ability to completely customize their deck, as supposed to the pre-built decks of earlier instalments of the game. How will this affect the gameplay of Magic 2015?

Players have a huge amount of freedom to customise their experience and play however they want to with the addition of this feature in Magic 2015. So, whatever your preferred style of play, you’ll be able to build a deck you love – and play against a huge variety of other players doing the same in multiplayer modes!

Since the video games are based on the real Magic: the Gathering card game, it would be hard to implement all aspects of that game into a virtual version. What makes you decide which elements and cards from the real game are included in the video games?

Our development team work to choose a subset of Magic cards that show off a wide range of what’s possible in Magic, and that are representative of Planes players will visit as they battle against Garruk in the campaign mode of the game.

Magic 2015 is recently brought to the Xbox One console, it being released several months later than the original. What does the Xbox One version of the game add to the Xbox 360 release?
As well as being the first time Magic has featured on the Xbox One console, this version of the game incorporates the MELD feature – allowing you to get frequent updates on what’s going on across the whole world of Magic, such as updates on the live video coverage of our marquee face-to-faceMagic events.

In Magic 2015, one of the most popular multiplayer modes – Two-Headed Giant – was not included in the game. What is the reason of the absence of this mode and can we expect it to be added in the future?

Seeing feedback we’ve had from players of Magic 2015 so far, it’s clear this is a fan-favourite play mode – and rest assured, we are looking at ways to add it back in future iterations of the franchise.

The Magic: the Gathering video game series are around since 1997 and have been the subject of many changes throughout the years, with only the base card game as a constant factor. What kind of innovations can we expect from the series in the next few years?

We’ll support the series as long as the fans will – which is going to be many years to come. So, expect to see us add even more of what makes Magicthe world’s best strategy game into the digital expressions of it, as we follow the past and future duels our Planeswalkers take part in.

Dan, heel erg bedankt voor je tijd!

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