Magic: The Gathering Creator Richard Garfield Says He Did Not Expect MTG's Success

The success of Wizards of the Coast's popular trading card game Magic: The Gathering is undeniable; more people are playing Magic now more than ever, and that's largely thanks to its rise of digital presence in the esports industry with Magic: The Gathering Arena. However, it turns out that the game's creator Richard Garfield did not anticipate its massive success when it was first published in 1993.

During his recent interview with GeekTyrant, Garfield talked about his new trivia game he created with the greatest all-time Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings called Half Truth. He also talked about the best game he created, Magic: The Gathering, and he said that he did not anticipate the great success of Magic:

"I was floored at the time with Magic's success, I never would have thought it would succeed like it has," Garfield said. "I knew it was a good, compelling, and unique game when it came out - but many games I loved weren't super successful so I knew that being good wasn't enough."

Credit: WIzards of the Coast

Hasbro's recent earnings call reported that Magic: The Gathering Arena is having the "strongest period since launch" despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and although the tabletop version of the game is struggling right now due to local game stores being forced to temporarily closed, Magic head designer Mark Rosewater recently said that the paper version is still the core of MTG.

If you want to know how Garfield developed Magic and how the game's success grew over the decades, look forward to Netflix's upcoming documentary about the card game. It's called Igniting the Spark, Magic: The Gathering, and it comes from the studio who produced The Toys That Made Us. No release date has been announced yet.

Related: MTG Arena is Having 'Strongest Period Since Launch' Despite COVID-19 Pandemic