MaRo on Universes Beyond: "I have never been more optimistic about Magic’s future."

Magic: The Gathering's head designer, Mark Rosewater, published a report on his official blog on Sunday (27) with data on the impact of the Universes Beyond line on the game's audience. The message was written in response to a fan's question about the sustainability of new players attracted by these sets.

Rosewater revealed that new players coming from Universes Beyond have a healthy transition rate to continuing with traditional Magic sets (called “in-Multiverse”). These players stick with the game more often than beginners who try the game randomly. The hypothesis is that the emotional connection to the franchise (as Final Fantasy or Lord of the Rings) helps overcome initial obstacles.

Another point highlighted was that the largest group of consumers of Beyond products are not new players but rather active Magic players, especially longtime players. They represent the largest share of sales and tend to spend more on these expansions than on traditional Magic sets.

Next come players who had previously drifted away from the game, known as "lapsed players." For these players, the sets in this line serve as an invitation to return to the game, contributing to the growth of the community. New players, or those who had never played before, represent a smaller but still relevant portion of buyers and are considered a strategic, albeit incipient, audience.

Finally, the group with the smallest share of sales are collectors, who buy cards for aesthetic purposes rather than necessarily to play. This group represents a small fraction of the total Universes Beyond line consumers.

Rosewater highlighted that the data points to a very healthy impact on the game's longevity. In 2025, Magic recorded its highest number of active players since its launch, with significant activity during San Diego Comic-Con, where the brand's cards and sets sold out quickly.

You can read the full report below:

"We’ve been spending a lot of time on Universes Beyond data. Here are a few key things we learned:

1) New players brought in by Universes Beyond have a healthy transition rate, meaning they continue on to play in-Multiverse sets. In fact, it’s a higher transition rate than sampling (aka people trying Magic because they just heard about it). This next part is speculation, but an educated hunch is there is a hurdle beginners have to get over, and many players who exit just don’t get over it. Having a property that you’re passionate about helps you stick with it longer which we believe makes it easier to get over the hump.

2) The biggest influx of “new” players from Universes Beyond is not people who have never played Magic, but actually lapsed players (aka players who once played Magic, but drifted away for various reasons). This means the strongest impact Universes Beyond has in growing the audience is luring back lapsed Magic players, which again are more likely to stick around past the specific Universe Beyond set.

3) The vast majority of Universe Beyond sales aren’t to new or lapsed players, but rather existing Magic players. And on average, existing Magic players spend more on Universes Beyond than in-Multiverse sets. My best guess here is we’ve done a good job partnering with properties that appeal highly to Magic players and thus there’s just a lot of excitement for the products.

In short, all the data says Universes Beyond is having a very healthy impact on the longevity of the game. Right now, for example, there are more people playing Magic than there have ever been in its thirty-two year history.

I write this sitting at the airport returning from San Diego Comic-Con. Magic’s increase was tangibly visible at the event. All the Magic items sold out at the Hasbro booth, with the Edge of Eternities prerelease pack selling out within half an hour every day. Our big Spider-Man panel had to turn away hundreds of people. There were more places to buy Magic on the floor than there has ever been. Both our activations, Spider-Man and Avatar: The Last Airbender were filled to capacity. And just the general buzz about Magic was the highest I have ever seen it at SDCC.

I have never been more optimistic about Magic’s future."

The Universes Beyond series is a project started in 2021 aiming at a partnership between Magic: The Gathering with pop/geek culture brands and franchises, bringing their iconic characters and lore to the card game.

Among the major expansions, the partnership has already yielded sets featuring The Lord of the Rings and Final Fantasy, which became the best-selling set in the game's history, with a one-day revenue of US$200 million. Future collaborations include the first set with Marvel, Spider-Man, scheduled for September 26th, and also Avatar: The Last Airbender, scheduled for release on November 21st.

Source: Blogatog