This week is squeezing out one more surprise announcement: Daybreak is taking over the publishing of 2002’s Magic: The Gathering Online.
“We are very excited to partner with Wizards of the Coast on yet another venture and add Magic: The Gathering Online among our portfolio of iconic online multiplayer games,” Daybreak CEO Ji Ham said in the press release, promising to both continue, invest in, and improve upon the game.
Daybreak, of course, is widely known in the MMORPG genre for its stewardship of the EverQuest franchise, as well as DC Universe Online, PlanetSide 2, and Standing Stone MMOs Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online. Daybreak itself was purchased at the end of 2020 by Swedish corporation EG7, which since then has installed Daybreak’s CEO as its own and stealth-announced a new Marvel MMO.
MTGO apparently made the announcement in its own dev blog last week, explaining that the team will actually be setting up a studio under the Daybreak banner.
“Speaking of 2022, the big change for next year and beyond is that Wizards of the Coast will be partnering with Daybreak Games to develop and publish Magic Online. […] While there will be a transition period over the next few months, we don’t expect this change to significantly disrupt the general player experience. The current Magic Online team will form a new studio under the Daybreak Games family of studios and will continue to run the game in close collaboration with Wizards of the Coast. We’ll take every effort to minimize disruption to the development of card sets, features, and updates, as well as active programs like set redemption and the Magic Online Champions Showcase. Our short-term focus will be on ensuring the transition runs smoothly, that all our systems are supported, and players can continue to have fun with new card sets as they are released.”
