Unabridged Comments - Are Digital Cards Games a Bubble? [Gamasutra]

From time to time, I get requests from publications to comment on specific topics. It is quite common for these comments to be cut or summarised to fit with the way the article is written, but it also means that some things are not said. However, as the time to write those comments has been spent, I feel like they should be shared. The original articles are interesting in their own rights as usually multiple persons are weighing in the topic, so it seems quite complementary. It can also be an opportunity for me to add to the comments, in light of the other contributions.I want to kick off this practice by sharing the whole of my comments done for the Gamasutra article on Digital Collectible Card games (I am sharing my full comments with their blessing).Article premise - Here is the frame provided for the article:

• There has been a rise of digital collectible card games for the past couple of years (and a recent acceleration)
• Specific question - Why is the trend is exploding now (and if I've seen a rise in crowdfunded CCG projects, both physical and digital)?
• Specific question - Do I think this will be a short term fad/bubble, or do I think CCGs have staying power on these platforms?
• Specific question - What's the draw for developers and publishers to push so aggressively into this space?And these are my unabridged comments:Specifically looking at CCG that were crowdfunded, I think there are very interesting trends that many can learn from. CCG on Kickstarter have done historically incredibly well.

First, you can consider SolForge, a free-to-play CCG that raised $429,000 on Kickstarter in September 2012 ) - when free-to-play games are notoriously difficult to fund on the platform. That in itself was a sign of a real hunger for this type of game at the time.

Then, less than a year later, in June 2013, you have Hex that managed to raise more than $2.2m , again on a free-to-play promise, using the Magic the Gathering nostalgia (or enthusiasm as Magic is still around I guess) as well as the promise of an MMO experience alongside the card game elements.[For reference, the two campaigns mentioned]