Yesterday's announcement of a collectible card game based on。 Dota 2。was the moment that the video game industry reached its saturation point with card games.。

When 。 Hearthstone
。came out in 2014, Blizzard unwittingly set off an avalanche of copycat online collectible card games. Developers undoubtedly saw the success of the
。 World of Warcraft
。-based card game and thought, "Hey, we can do that, too," and now all of these projects are trickling out of development darkness and scrambling to stand out in the competitive card game dog pile.。

SEE ALSO:'Magic: The Gathering' session ends in stabbing。

SEE ALSO:'Magic: The Gathering' session ends in stabbing。 Within the past five months, The Elder Scrolls 。 series has gotten a card game, the。 Fable。 series has gotten a card game, and。The Witcher 3。 's card game 。Gwent
。

has started its stand-alone open beta. 。 That's already more competitive card games based on existing fantasy video game series than anyone wanted. The crowd's groan-filled reaction to Valve's reveal of the。Dota 2 。 Dota 2。card game, called。

Artifact。

, speaks to exactly how everyone else in the world feels about yet another online card game.。

Enough.。Just because you build it doesn't guarantee people will come. 。 Magic: The Gathering 。 perfected the art of competitive card games and brought them online, and then 。

Hearthstone。followed up with its own fantastic take on the genre. There's room for card games, but we don't need every developer with a successful fantasy game creating a their own spin-off.。Mashable Top StoriesStay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news.Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter 。

By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 。

By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 。 Thanks for signing up! 。Collectible card games are heavy on the wallet as it is; most of them encourage players to buy card packs, DLC, and other nonsense to have a chance at getting something worthwhile and keep up with the ever-changing meta. 。 Once upon a time, you could have argued that superfans who are itching to play anything with their favorite game's name on it would have made this business model a viable one. The people who paid money to attend this year's
。Dota 2。

Dota 2。 International, where。 Artifact 。 was revealed, proved this argument wrong. 。Who would buy tickets to attend a 。 Dota
。tournament and watch professionals play the game they love? Dota 。 superfans. And who wasn't impressed by the reveal of。

Artifact 。

? You guessed it:
。Dota 。

superfans.。Just because you build it doesn't guarantee people will come. 。 Hearthstone 。worked (and continues to work) because it took the genre and made it its own. It had its foot in the door early on and continues to succeed because it built the foundation for its community over three years ago, developing its own following and building up a huge competitive scene.。 Fable Fortune。Fable Fortune。 ,The Elder Scrolls: Legends。

,

---

Gwent 。

---

, and。

---

Artifact。

have all come three years too late. Competitive card game fans already have better options. Why take the time to learn a new set of cards, a new set of rules, a new meta?Our bet is that most people aren't going to find a good enough reason why. 。Our bet is that most people aren't going to find a good enough reason why. 。Featured Video For You 。He chose esports over school 15 years ago, and now it's paying off。TopicsGaming。