Although Artifact’s player numbers continue to sink every day, Valve says it’s still committed to the game. In a surprise patch, which addresses several cards and bugs, the company closes with: “Unchanged: still in it for the long haul.”

Though the statement is brief, it is the first time in over a month Valve has communicated with the community directly about their intentions. Artifact’s Twitter account hasn’t posted anything since December 22nd, and an patch earlier this month changed a couple of features without further comment. The silence has caused quite a bit of restlessness among the small community Artifact has left, as it watched the downward trend of the game’s popularity march on. The patch note comes just a day after Artifact dipped below 1000 concurrent players, according to Steam Charts.

While the most exciting part of the patch note most certainly is Valve’s exclamation of commitment, it also features some highly impactful changes to item cards: a total of 18 items received a buff. The vast majority saw its cost reduced, but two items’ card text was changed. Blade of the Vigil’s cleave effect was upgraded from 2 damage to 4, while Keenfolk Plate now reads an additional line: "Equipped hero's attackers have -1 Armor".

The full patch notes can be read below.

Item Card Changes:

• Blade of the Vigil: Cleave increased from +2 to +4
• Keenfolk Plate: Added "Equipped hero's attackers have -1 Armor"
• Stonehall Pike cost reduced from 6 gold to 5 gold
• Stonehall Plate cost reduced from 6 gold to 5 gold
• Barbed Mail cost reduced from 6 gold to 5 gold
• Assassin's Veil cost reduced from 6 gold to 4 gold
• Phase Boots cost reduced from 6 gold to 5 gold
• Broadsword cost reduced from 7 gold to 6 gold
• Keenfolk Musket cost reduced from 7 gold to 6 gold
• Chainmail cost reduced from 7 gold to 6 gold
• Fur-lined Mantle cost reduced from 7 gold to 6 gold
• Red Mist Maul cost reduced from 10 gold to 9 gold
• Obliterating Orb cost reduced from 10 gold to 9 gold
• Ring of Tarrasque cost reduced from 12 gold to 10 gold
• Cloak of Endless Carnage cost reduced from 13 gold to 10 gold
• Claymore cost reduced from 15 gold to 14 gold
• Platemail cost reduced from 15 gold to 12 gold
• Hero's Cape cost reduced from 15 gold to 12 gold

Private Lobby & Tournament Changes:

• Added Random Two Color deck option for private lobbies and tournaments. This gives both players different randomized 2-color decks in each match.
• Added Speed Timer option for private lobbies and tournaments. This allows players 10 seconds to take each action.
• Automated Open Tournaments are now 'Chaos Blitz'. Chaos Blitz is Random Two Color, Speed Timer, 8 player free-for-all lasting for 1 hour and 30 minutes

Bug Fixes & Other Changes:

• Hovering gold in the HUD displays the amount of gold spent but not yet revealed through playing items (this is a clue rather than an exact amount because of hidden information with Hold, Shop Deed, etc.)
• Fixed Rebel Instigator combat arrows not appearing sometimes
• Fixed issue with Plague wards spawn particles
• Fixed losing a few seconds from the action timer after deployment
• Fixed tournament draft replays not showing selected cards
• Fixed long persona names getting cut off
• Fixed crosslane targets sometimes not showing in Last Action text.
• Fixed Chat Wheel lines for Rebel Decoy, Pit Fighter of Quoidge, Zeus, and Beastmaster
• Reduced low end noise in deck building ambient audio
• Added particle effects for some passive abilities
• Slightly reduced draw card animation speed (time between draws remains the same)
• Slightly increased the time between Eclipse beams (intro/outro time remains the same)
• Improved stability
• Updated localization files

Unchanged:

• Still in it for the long haul