Magic: The Gathering fans walking out over unprecedented crossover

Magic publisher Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and its parent company Hasbro have opened their biggest can of worms - or should that be can of walkers? - with the announcement of a Walking Dead crossover product, featuring characters like Negan and Daryl Dixon on brand new custom cards.

That might seem a weird thing to get upset about for those not paying close attention! But the protests around Secret Lair: The Walking Dead have less to do with the choice of crossover, and more to do with the dangerous precedents WotC is setting with this release. 

The entire Secret Lair product line has toed the line of controversy since it began a year ago - offering premium alt-art versions of popular cards in tiny, time-limited drops at a steep price. While these drops do cater to an established, high-spending portion of Magic’s player base, critics have pointed out they aren’t available in many international markets and claimed they damage the community as players gouge each other to acquire them on the secondary market.

Simultaneously, another furor has been raging over when it’s appropriate for MTG to feature media crossovers, with many invested players adamant it’s a bad idea. Still, WotC has danced around the line of acceptability - first introducing “joke” promo cards based on Hasbro products like Transformers and My Little Pony, then headlining their monster-themed set Ikoria with official Godzilla cards earlier this year. 

But critically, none of those tie-ins were “tournament cards”. The Hasbro promos were all marked with silver borders as illegal for competitive play, while the Godzilla cards were simply alternate art variants for more traditional cards. This meant that players who didn’t see a place for Mothra or Twilight Sparkle in Magic could safely ignore the tie-in cards without being penalized in game.

But these new Walking Dead cards are not only mechanically unique game pieces, they have been designed and approved for tournament play - becoming automatically legal in the Commander, Legacy and Vintage formats upon their release.

WotC has tried to position this as a way to ensure players can get use out of the cards, and that they tried to design the cards to be at a “safe” power level - i.e. too mediocre to drive a bidding war among competitive players. But after revealing only half of the cards, there’s already at least two which look threateningly strong - and it would not be unheard of for some players to deliberately try to inflate the tournament results of these cards, knowing it would drive a massive price spike that they could cash in on. 

While WotC holds the absolute power to ban these cards or reprint them if such unhealthy scenarios play out, they seem to be caught between consumer backlash and pressure from Hasbro to maintain Magic’s astounding growth. As long-suffering players joke darkly about one day opening a foil Ronald McDonald card, the unspoken question is how far WotC can push this sort of thing before it does long-term damage to the brand - and how willing are they to find out?

Cyberpunk 2077 developers insist studio isn't becoming a dystopia

Dark tidings from Night City this week, as acclaimed Polish game studio CD Projekt Red implemented mandatory overtime for all employees working to finish Cyberpunk 2077. Developers working 6 days and nights a week to have things done for the announced release date is a numbing reality in the game industry, and the ethical debate over “crunch time” has been batted around for a decade now. But several factors have made this leak an especially bad look for CD Projekt, most importantly that it’s something they confidently promised not to do in 2019 interviews.

In a year without Marvel movies, it’s reasonable to say that Cyberpunk 2077 has become the biggest media release of 2020, certainly the biggest to feature original IP. The weight of expectation has been tough to bear even for an experienced developer such as CD Projekt Red, whose previous hit series The Witcher (now also a top Netflix show!) made them darlings among the hardcore gaming audience. 

Cyberpunk 2077 adapts tabletop RPG writer Mike Pondsmith’s vision of the Blade Runner-like future where corporations govern and gangs thrive in the shadows. Dealing with such politically-charged subject matter gives critics plenty of ammunition when the studio messes up, but CD Projekt’s Adam Badowski has continued to defend their decisions, while insisting they still believe in exploring Cyberpunk’s themes of transhumanism and abuse of power.

“These last 6 weeks are our final sprint on a project we’ve all spent much of our lives on,” Badowski explained in a Twitter statement after CD Projekt’s crunch hypocrisy was called out. He lamented the mandatory overtime as “one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make”, but insisted “the majority of the team understands”. 

He then extended a more substantial olive branch, both to the public and his own employees - many of whom were already working 6-day weeks voluntarily over the past year. “Like in recent years,” Badowski promised, “10% of the annual profit our company generates in 2020 will be split directly among the team.” Exhausted Cyberpunk 2077 developers will have to hope that this promise proves stronger than the last one.

Fast fandom

As always, there is a ton going on in the interconnected world of pop culture and fan media. Here are a few of the stories that caught our eye:

Hollywood memories reveal depth of fallen star's generosity

A month after the tragic passing of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, the world of cinema is still slowly coming to terms with his loss. Sienna Miller added yet another layer to Boseman’s legacy this week, sharing an astounding anecdote about her experience co-starring with him on 21 Bridges.

Boseman was also a producer on the film, and specifically pursued Miller for his co-lead. But when Miller, struggling with burnout and wanting to spend more time with her young daughter, tried to ask for better compensation, Hollywood’s infamous glass ceiling shut her down. “Chadwick ended up donating some of his salary to get me to the number that I had asked for,” Miller explains. “He said that that was what I deserved to be paid... it’s just unfathomable to imagine another man in that town behaving that graciously or respectfully.”

2020 LoL World Championship going ahead as esports rebounds from 2020

COVID-19 has been widely reported as something of a blessing in disguise for esports, as pro gaming seized on the cultural space left behind when the pandemic disrupted major league sports. But many of the larger esports events were also victims of coronavirus rescheduling.

Luckily after months of serious debate over its viability, this week saw the opening rounds of the League of Legends World Championships - the most-watched annual tournament on the esports calendar. The carnival-style event will be broadcast live from Shanghai over the rest of October, as teams from around the globe battle for a $5 million prize in front of a record-setting streaming audience.

Epic and Apple Hunker down for prolonged legal shootout

An important update in the landmark antitrust lawsuit levied by Epic Games - creators of mobile gaming megahit Fortnite - against Apple. As we reported a few weeks back, Epic has decided to take a stand against what it sees as Apple’s “anti-competitive” contract terms which demand it process - and take a cut from - all in-app transactions.

While many gamers have been won over by Epic’s arguments, the same could not be said for federal judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, whose court was an early battleground in the complex suit this week. The judge told Epic’s lawyers, “I’m not particularly persuaded” by claims that Apple is maintaining an unfair monopoly, and suggested that the case be delayed until 2021 so it could be tried before a full jury. With Fortnite sales suspended pending the intervention of the court, Epic might have to choose whether this is a hill their company is truly ready to die on.

Want more pop culture news and analysis, sent straight to your inbox? Curious about the intersection of fandom and personal finance?

Get Mythic Messenger every two weeks. Unsubscribe anytime.