Magic: The Gathering prices are going up

Magic: The Gathering - Icatian Money Changer
(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast)

Prices on some physical Magic: The Gatherings products will be going up later this year, and a lot of players aren't happy about it. Wizards of the Coast attributed the increase to a sharp rise in production costs, but critics pointed out that the announcement came on the same day the WotC parent company Hasbro reported revenue growth across all segments of the company and an adjusted operating profit of nearly $142 million in its most recent quarter.

The price increase is being kept "as narrow as possible," WotC said, and will impact the following premier set, Unfinity, and Jumpstart products:

  • Draft Boosters
  • Set Boosters
  • Collector Boosters
  • Bundles
  • Jumpstart Boosters

The price of Commander decks will also be going up with the release of the Streets of New Capenna set.

"Each of these products will increase by slightly different percentages, which we estimate will be approximately 11% across the products that are seeing an increase, allowing for regional variation," WotC said. "These increases also will not affect other product lines, like Masters, Modern Horizons, Secret Lair, Challenger Decks, or Universes Beyond."

Price increases are rarely popular, and that's especially true when they come alongside a multi-million-dollar profit report. CCG player, designer, and streamer Brian Kibler shared this image on Twitter in response to the news:

(Image credit: Scarecrowbar (via Twitter))

Kibler also acknowledged, though, that at least some of the backlash is the result of optics. "I do want to note that the fact that Magic pack prices have been the same for *years* (outside of stuff like collector boosters) is pretty remarkable, but it's really funny they're announcing this the same day as their earnings call discussing record profits," he said in a follow-up tweet

Some of his followers agreed, but plenty of criticism remained, along with some players pointing out that prices have actually gone up (significantly, in some cases) outside of the US.

A somewhat more nuanced discussion of the price increase, and capitalism in general, is taking place on the Magic: TCG subreddit. "This is a push to increase profits," redditor Dekaroe wrote. "While the five year [profit] goal was met sooner, they also predicted a decline in profits [growth] (not negative!) for the next year or two—this is one way to keep the numbers on the pages looking good. Cause let’s all be honest: who is going to stop buying Magic because of this?"

Some Magic players said that they will in fact curtail their spending on the hobby, but Perp703 predicted that an overall cutback on spending won't meaningfully impact WotC's plans or prospects because he thinks Magic is headed the way of free-to-play videogames.

"The 90% of people who play casually aren’t where you make the big bucks," they wrote. "It’s the 10% of players who are considered whales are who you make your money on. It’s why arena has gotten so shitty with its economy—why care about the wants of the many who are f2p or minimal spenders when you can cater to the minority who spends the bulk of the money on the game?"

The Magic: The Gathering price increases are set to begin in September.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Read more
A blue dragon rises into storm clouds
Wizards of the Coast throws a bone to players who miss vanilla Magic: The Gathering with a dragon-themed set called Tarkir: Dragonstorm
Prismatic Evolutions Pokemon TCG
Pokémon TCG Prismatic Evolution scalpers are starting to hurt, thanks to the promise of reprints despite the current lack of supply
The cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender prepare to be turned into Magic cards
Magic: The Gathering's last set for 2025 will be Avatar: The Last Airbender
A snakewoman holding a sickle
Magic: The Gathering's Tarkir: Dragonstorm set isn't just about dragons
A herd of chaotic dinosaur mounts gathered in Dornogal, the capital city of The War Within.
Alas, it's been estimated that WoW's $90 FOMO dinosaur mount probably made Blizzard around $15-17 million, and at this point I think we all deserve to be here
Bobby Kotick in 2008, after the Vivendi merger that made Activision into Activision Blizzard.
Bobby Kotick says he'd never have raised World of Warcraft's subscription by even a dollar because 'it's a prickly audience, you don't wanna do too much to agitate them'
Latest in Strategy
Tzarina Katarin Bokha, the Ice Queen of Kislev
Total War: Warhammer 3 rolls out a cool Kislev overhaul, changes befitting Tzeench’s magic, new projectile units and creakier skeletal horses
Civilization 7 Great Britain - Modern Civ art (via YouTube)
As Civilization 7 struggles to keep up with Civ 5 player counts, a new patch is coming tomorrow with still more UI changes and gameplay tweaks
Battle Brothers
Nearly 2 years after its last update, the excellent Battle Brothers gets 'a bucket load of fixes' and free new content
King wielding his axe against would-be assassins in Norland.
Medieval colony sim Norland is getting a 'damn big update' that completely overhauls the game's mechanics: 'We're rolling out some radical changes to the core gameplay'
Age of Empires 2
Former Age of Empires 2 dev claims Microsoft demanded its first expansion should have a Korean faction, because 'StarCraft sold 3 million copies in Korea'
Endless Legend 2 Kin faction reveal
It's turtle time: Endless Legend 2's first faction is the fortification-loving Kin of Sheredyn
Latest in News
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense
Tzarina Katarin Bokha, the Ice Queen of Kislev
Total War: Warhammer 3 rolls out a cool Kislev overhaul, changes befitting Tzeench’s magic, new projectile units and creakier skeletal horses
An image of a golden first place award from Geoguessr
'We're actually getting GeoGuessr on Steam before GTA 6': the Google Street View puzzler arrives on Valve's platform this April
Napster client circa 1999
Former music-pirating platform Napster to be reborn rather ironically as a metaverse for musicians to connect with their fans after $207 million deal
The snazzy red and black HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless headphones float in a teal void. The microphone is attached to the headset.
The best wireless gaming headset is now even better in the Amazon Big Spring Sale, boasting a more than $50 discount
A chip being held up in an Intel fab
Intel is reportedly 'working to finalize commitments from Nvidia' as a foundry partner, suggesting gaming potential for the 18A node