The State of Computer Card Games in 2018 - Hearthstone, Gwent, Eternal, ES:Legends, etc.

I have been following popular CCGs in the past few years, and have played many of them. I am curious what people know about the state of the CCG scene and the rise and fall of popular CCGs.My take on the scene briefly is:Hearthstone still reigns supreme but has gotten much more expensive this past year. Gwent has many players but lost a lot of momentum with some bad design choices. Duelyst is no longer popular, Faeria is not getting much attention, and Elder Scrolls: Legends has lost some popularity after a surge with Twitch drops being implemented. Eternal is solid competition with a small but growing player base (in early access).Some Questions:How is Magic the Gathering Online doing in terms of popularity? Growing? What is this game like? Is it expensive to play?Is Shadowverse still gaining western players? I have not seen any major Hearthstone player playing Shadowverse on Twitch for a while.What games am I missing? HexTCG has not seemed to get popular or to get much press._GamesHearthstoneHearthstone seems as strong as ever, and is incredibly profitable for Blizzard. I believe Hearthstone lost many veteran players this year when they changed to a much more expensive pay model. You will need to spend around $300 for each expansion (3 times a year) in order to get most of the cards of each expansion (although it's not necessary). You can still play spending less and crafting a few top tier decks, but the game is much less friendly to F2P players. There is no sign of any CCG game getting close to the popularity of Hearthstone. Hearthstone has Mac, iOS and Android versions (notably Gwent has none of these).GWENT (in beta)I believe GWENT is still popular but lost a lot of players and lost a lot of it's hype and momentum this past year. Many players feel that CD PROJEKT RED have made some bad design choices this past year and the game has gotten worse. GWENT is still a quality, unique CCG and should remain popular in 2018. Basic gameplay is very different than Hearthstone, Eternal or ES:Legends. GWENT has the potential to become very popular. GWENT currently has no mobile versions (iOS or Android) and no Mac version, but is on PC, XBOX and PlayStation.CDPR have basically said that Gwent is going to remain dead until a promised October update that will pretty much change the entire game, removing features that are extremely unwanted, but implementing and redesigning new features and some that were originally in the game but taken out.thanks to /u/Antisym/Elder Scrolls: LegendsES:L saw a surge in popularity and press when Twitch Drops were implemented by Bethesda. Hype for the game seemed to drop after this surge, but I believe ES:L still has a lot of players. The game has yet to become a break out success. (Please comment if you have more info on ES:L's current popularity).ES:L is somewhat similar to Hearthstone (with unique features of course, such as lanes) and is developed by Dire Wolf Digital. It is a solid, full featured game. It has PC, Mac, Android and iOS versions, and is on Steam.Eternal (Early Access)Eternal is a well-designed CCG with similarities to Hearthstone and Colors/Factions like Magic the Gathering. It is on Steam and has PC, Mac and mobile iOS/Android versions. I believe Eternal is growing in popularity and will stay in the top 5 CCGs in 2018 in the Western markets. It is a well designed game with a generous F2P model.ShadowveseShadowverse has similarities to Hearthstone, and has an anime/waifu art style. It is on Steam (PC and Mac) and has mobile versions. I have not seen Shadowverse recently on reddit or Twitch, but assume it still has a strong, large playerbase. I cannot see this game becoming that popular in the west due to it's art style, but it has large numbers globally (especially in Asia).Other CCGsThese games I believe have failed to gather any large market share or popularity: HexCCG, Duelyst, Faeria. They all have unique strengths and weaknesses. Faeria is a good game played on a game board and it has a generous F2P model. Hex is a more complex game, and is more costly, but your cards and collection are tradable and can be sold for money. I do not see any of these three games becoming very popular._Edits:Magic The Gathering: Arena is a new game currently in closed beta and will offer a more modern game than Magic Online.thanks to /u/Blutlol/Valve's Dota 2-related Artifact is coming in 2018. It already has a Steam page.thanks to /u/Antidote4Life/What do you see happening in the CCG market? Am I wrong about any of these games? Any other major CCGs I am missing?I believe Hearthstone, Eternal and Gwent will be the top CCGs n 2018 and 2019 - assuming Eternal (in early access) and Gwent (in beta) launch successfully. What do you think?If you are a CCG developer, tell us some of the unique strengths of your game. via /r/Games https://ift.tt/2H1XbYY