In September, Wizards of the Coast indicated that a Friends List would finally be added toMagic: The Gathering Arenain October. WotC stated that thisMagic: The Gathering ArenaFriends Listwould “provide an easier way for [players] to see whether [their] friends are online,” and indeed this is something that many fans have been requesting for quite some time. However, it seems that these players will need to wait a bit longer for this feature, as implementation of theMTGAFriends List has now been delayed.
Revealed in theMagic: The Gathering ArenaState of the Beta from October 18, the developer suggests that its current priority is “focusing on performance improvements and client health,” and the addition of a Friends List toMagic: The Gathering Arenahas been put on hold as a result. Wizards has not provided a new ETA for the launch of theMagic: The GatheringArenaFriends List, but the company has assured players that all of the new social features that have been announced previously remain on the roadmap.
RELATED:Magic: The Gathering Fans Unhappy About October Banned & Restricted Announcement
TheseMTGAsocial features include not only the Friends List, but in-game messaging and the ability to shareMagic: The Gatheringdecksas well. Furthermore, Wizards states that its goal is to go even further with social features, adding things like eight-person drafts, spectating, four-player formats, and more in the future. However, with the announcement of the delayed Friends List, players should expect the arrival of these additional features to be a ways off.
With respect to theMagic: The Gathering Arenaperformances improvements thatWizards of the Coastcites as the reason for the delay, there are a number of issues that are receiving the developer’s attention. These issues include gameplay crashes, reconnection issues, FPS drops, and memory leaks, and it is said that addressing these problems will be WotC’s “primary focus” for the next few months.
While some fans will be disappointed by the delayed Friends List inMTGA, many players will be happy to hear that addressing performance concerns has become Wizards' “highest priority.” Indeed, the problems that some players are currently experiencing with theMagic: The Gathering Arenaclient is a frequent point of discussion in the community, and it seems that WotC is now committed to resolving some these problems prior to the release of thenextMTGsets.
Source:Wizards of the Coast
