Shortly after Wizards of the Coast announced the upcoming Magic: The Gathering set called Double Masters earlier this month, Double Masters products were found on Amazon with prices up for pre-order: each Double Masters booster box costs $300, and each booster pack costs $16.30, so it's not surprising to see that many players have expressed their complaints about the high price of premium Magic sets like this one.
The Tolarian Community College YouTube channel also addressed this controversy in a recent video:
Over on his Blogatog, Magic Head Designer Mark Rosewater recently responded to these criticisms. When a fan asked him about the high price of Double Masters, he said: "While making Magic the best game it can be is important to us, we are also a business," Rosewater explains. "Part of our job as a business is to recognize all the various audiences and create products to serve them. That's how we make money - finding player desires and filling them with products."
"One of our audiences are invested players with a higher price threshold," he added. "That is, there are players who are willing to spend a lot of money for highly desired cards, be it reprints or alternate versions. It's in our interest to make products for those players (things like Double Masters and collector boosters). Note that we take great care to make those products something that group is happy to buy."
He went on to explain that those highly-desirable cards are also desired by those who can't afford them. "Desirable cards are desirable cards," he said. "So when we make these products, that group gets upset because the prices seem so high. It feels like an insult. We made something they'd like, but we priced them out of being able to purchase it. I get the ill will, but I also feel like not making products for that audience is unfair for both that audience and us," So I'm turning to all of you that feel upset. How can we make these products in a way that allows that audience to get what they want without all of you feeling like we're doing harm to you?"
In another Blogatog post, he responded to another fan question regarding the how the collectible aspect of the card game can cause a divide between those who can afford premium cards and those who can't.
Over the years, Rosewater has been to the Magic community regarding issues about Magic, so it's always insightful to see his responses regarding any controversy.
What do you think about the high price of Double Masters and other premium MTG products? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Double Masters will be released on August 7, 2020; it will also be available on Magic Online for $6.99 per pack.