10 "Next Big Thing" Video Games Nobody Is Playing

1. Artifact

The big one has been saved for last, or rather the small one. Some of the games here have had disappointing sales figures or player drop off, but that’s nothing compared to Artifact.

It began with a fairly modest playerbase of 60,000 in November 2018, a figure which dropped to 1,500 in just two months. By July this year, the number had fallen so low it was in double figures. Yep, you read that right. From 60,000 to less than 100 in seven months.

Why such a sudden drop though? Well, take your pick.

Artifact is a collectible card game in the vein of Magic: The Gathering, and was even designed by MTG’s creator Richard Garfield. It was made by Valve and set in the DOTA universe, and immediately felt like a game no one had particularly asked for.

Aside from the comments complaining that Valve should be focussed on Half Life 3 though, that Artifact had to be bought while competitors were free to play was unpopular. This was made worse by it still containing microtransactions, and was hit with a barrage of ‘pay to win’ complaints.

It was reviewed bombed almost immediately, unfavourably compared to Hearthstone and MTG and just generally felt like a huge waste of everybody’s time and money.