[3]: 6 The game was designed in 1994 by Richard Garfield and initially published by Wizards of the Coast and was the third CCG ever created, after Magic: The Gathering and Spellfire.

[3]: 6  In 1995 the game was renamed from Jyhad to Vampire: The Eternal Struggle to increase its appeal and distance itself from the Islamic term jihad.

[10] Several fan-designed sets have appeared over the years, under the player community organization brand of Elder Kindred Network .

[11] On April 24, 2018, Black Chantry Productions, a fan-run organization, announced the company had obtained the license to produce Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and return the game to print.

In V:TES, each player takes on the role of a Methuselah, an ancient and manipulative vampire,[15] who is not itself present in the struggle, but acts from afar.

Group play with more than six players is rare, as an individual's turn can easily take two to three minutes, causing a slow game.

Game time varies greatly depending on the number of players and the style of decks played.

This boost of resources might possibly enable him to eventually "sweep the table" (gaining momentum with every kill) and oust every other player.

This ensures that most players stay in the game longer, instead of the playing field being reduced quickly to those with the best cards and the greatest skill.

In newsgroups and on web pages, character codes are used to identify each set, usually an abbreviation of the expansion's name.

[15] He also stated that the game had "pretty good" art, but that the numerous icons would take time to learn.

An article in the first issue of InQuest stated that the game is "complicated and takes a while to play" but can be "fiendishly rewarding".

[20] In 2004, Inquest Gamer Magazine picked Vampire: The Eternal Struggle as the all-time best multiplayer collectible card games.

White Wolf Publishing had allowed CCG Workshop to release the Camarilla, Anarchs, Final Nights, Legacies of Blood, Black Hand and Kindred Most Wanted sets for online play.