Valve announced the first details about Artifact , the Dota 2 card game, in a closed doors presentation today.

Artifact First Screenshots and Art 21 IMAGES

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Valve President Gabe Newell sat down with members of the games press to reveal the first details about Artifact, the digital card game that was announced during last year's International . The presentation contained a wealth of information about the upcoming game, most important of which is that the game will not be free-to-play like many of its competitors.The game will feature high production values, novel mechanics (such as a "shopping phase"), and an AI that teaches the player how to play. Newell also stated that opening packs and building your deck will be "a social and competitive experience". Additionally, Artifact will feature a marketplace and workshop, much like the one that Dota 2 players can use to buy and sell in-game items.Newell also clarified that Artifact is not a Dota 2 card game, but rather a game that uses Dota as a base because of convenience. He went on to say that Artifact will create a lot of content for Dota 2, including "new heroes that will appear in Dota". Much like Dota, Newell says Artifact will not have a single-player campaign, but rather focus on how to play human opponents.Artifact is currently in closed beta, available only to industry members and TCG professionals. The presentation revealed that Artifact will be released to the public by the end of 2018, with the first tournament in Q1 2019. The game will hit iOS and Android in mid-2019 and will be the first Source 2 title to run on mobile devices.No exact release date or price was set for Artifact, but details are still coming in.

Sam Stewart is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter