The Future of Magic

Joe Hauck

From: Joe Hauck
To: The Magic the Gathering community

Given the recent announcements made by Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast and the rumors that have been created around these, I wanted to take this time to talk to the Magic: the Gathering community and let you know about our true current status.

Magic is as strong as ever, and we will continue to grow the fan base and improve the product and game play experience for those fans.

The same Magic R&D team, including Richard Garfield, are still working on future expansions, trying (and succeeding) to live up to the great expectations that Invasion has created. Planeshift and Apocalypse have already been completed, and I can assure you that you will not be disappointed! I already have plans to add many from these sets to my favorite decks, and some are so cool I will have to create entirely new decks around them.

Organized play is still a top priority for Magic. Although we have reorganized a few events, we will continue to offer the top prizes you have come to enjoy from our high level tournaments, and provide great event support for all other levels of play.

While it is true that the company as a whole has had to make budget cuts, contrary to popular rumor, the marketing budget for Magic was affected by a reasonable amount, not the 90% rumored on Magic fan sites. We will focus our efforts and most likely see better results from our marketing in 2001 than we did in 2000.

Our Art Department is hard at work with finished pieces arriving every day from your favorite artists for the Odyssey expansion. With the increasing skills of our artists and new art direction from the incredible Paul Timm (former art director of Legend of the Five Rings) we will continue to strive to raise the standard of graphics in the gaming industry.

Finally, all of my team in Brand Management will continue working on strategy, planning years in advance to insure the life of your game. Hasbro has time and again expressed their faith and desire to leave Magic in our hands, the hands of people who have every intention to produce Magic for years to come. I have confidence in saying this because we all play the game, and not only manage it as a business, but work on it with the passion that only true gamers can muster.

See you at the next pre-release or ProTour,

Joe Hauck
Director of Magic: the Gathering Brand