After just a couple of years on shelves, the Altered trading card game is being shut down.
"Tonight, we feel a profound sadness," developer Equinox wrote in an announcement via its website on March 18. Despite raising approximately €1.1 million from professional partners and the community via Gamefound, it had failed to secure the €2 million needed to keep the Altered trading card game alive. As a result, it was shutting down the Roots of Corruption expansion campaign as well as putting the game itself out to pasture. It's a glum end for this newcomer to the best card games.
It feels like a rough landscape out there where trading card games are concerned. Even though the likes of Pokémon, Magic, and Lorcana are immensely popular, actually getting hold of them is proving difficult. As an example, I've struggled to find sets such as Pokémon Perfect Order at a reasonable price other than via indie retailers like Miniature Market, and I suspect it'll be a similar story for anyone wanting to buy Pokémon TCG Chaos Rising ahead of its launch in May.
"We are far — far too far — from the vital goal of €2 million we had set to guarantee the future of the game," Equinox writes in its post. "It would be dishonest to tell you that we can still turn the tide by Friday evening. We must face reality: the numbers simply aren't there."
It's unclear what happens next, but Equinox founder Régis Bonnessée states that answers will be given after the team has had time to process the decision. This will include what happens to fans' digital collections, as well as the game's future on Board Game Arena.
"Thank you for every card played, for every smile exchanged, and for everything you put of yourselves into this adventure. It was an honor to imagine it with you," Bonnessée concluded.
It feels like a bleak curtain call for what was once hailed as one of the most exciting developments in the space. Even on the GamesRadar+ team, there was a lot of buzz surrounding Altered thanks to it being a non-combative race and due to its focus on printable or one-off cards. In fact, we were praising its Trial by Frost expansion in our review this time last year. Sadly, it seems as though that addition wasn't enough to keep it alive.
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