One of Hearthstone’s competitors is now available to a lot more players.
Bethesda has released The Elder Scrolls: Legends on digital PC store Steam, Mac, and Android tablets. The digital card game came out for Windows PCs and iOS devices in March. Releasing on more platforms makes the free-to-play title available to a larger audience. This also means that PC players won’t have to launch the game from Bethesda’s own app, instead giving them the option to use the more popular Steam client. Research firm SuperData expects the digital card game market to be worth $1.4 billion this year.
Blizzard’s Hearthstone leads the field, with SuperData estimating that it earned $394.6 million in revenue in 2016. Now that Legends is out on more platforms, we’ll have a better idea of how it competes with the digital card game king. Both will also have to battle Gwent, a card game based on The Witcher series that just went into open beta on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
The Elder Scrolls: Legends is similar to Hearthstone in that cards represent minions and spells, and players win by depleting the other’s health pool. But Legends has minions fighting on two lanes, while Hearthstone only uses one. Legends also has a Story mode, unlike Hearthstone. Bethesda’s card game also lets players uses their drafted decks (similar to Hearthstone’s Arena mode) against computer opponents.
Bethesda also added new features to all versions of The Elder Scrolls: Legends. A new Spectator mode give players the option to watch their friends’ games. Meanwhile, Gauntlet Events introduce global competitions. Players compete in a series of matches, trying to climb as high on the leaderboard as they can. The best players will earn card packs, in-game gold, and more.
“Gauntlet events will vary in size, entry cost, and prizing, and will challenge players showcase their performance with their favorite decks,” Bethesda explained in a press release sent to GamesBeat.
