Hearthstone

Hearthstone is a free-to-play online digital collectible card game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally subtitled Heroes of Warcraft, Hearthstone builds upon the existing lore of the Warcraft series by using the same elements, characters, and relics. It was first released for Microsoft Windows and macOS in March 2014, with ports for iOS and Android releasing later that year. The game features cross-platform play, allowing players on any supported device to compete with one another, restricted only by geographical region account limits.

For other uses, see Hearthstone (disambiguation).

Hearthstone
Developer(s)Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher(s)Blizzard Entertainment
Director(s)
Designer(s)
  • Derek Sakamoto
  • Mike Donais
Composer(s)Peter McConnell
SeriesWarcraft
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Release
  • Windows, macOS
  • March 11, 2014
  • iOS
  • April 16, 2014
  • Android
  • December 15, 2014
Genre(s)Digital collectible card game
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

The game is a turn-based card game between two opponents, using constructed decks of 30 cards along with a selected hero with a unique power. Players use their limited mana crystals to play abilities or summon minions to attack the opponent, with the goal of destroying the opponent's hero. Winning matches and completing quests earn in-game gold, rewards in the form of new cards, and other in-game prizes. Players can then buy packs of new cards through gold or microtransactions to customize and improve their decks. The game features several modes of play, including casual and ranked matches, drafted arena battles, and single-player adventures. New content for the game involves the addition of new card sets and gameplay, taking the form of either expansion packs or adventures that reward the player with collectible cards upon completion.

In contrast to other games developed by Blizzard, Hearthstone was an experimental game developed by a smaller team based on the appreciation of collectible card games at the company. The game was designed to avoid pitfalls of other digital collectible card games by eliminating any possible plays from an opponent during a player's turn and by replicating the feel of a physical card game within the game's user interface. Many of the concepts as well as art assets were based on those previously published in the physical World of Warcraft Trading Card Game.

The game has been favorably reviewed by critics and has been a success for Blizzard, earning nearly US$40 million per month as of August 2017.[2] As of November 2018, Blizzard has reported more than 100 million Hearthstone players.[3] The game has become popular as an esport, with cash prize tournaments hosted by Blizzard and other organizers.

Gameplay
Main article: Gameplay of Hearthstone
An example of gameplay in Hearthstone. Players use cards from their hands, such as minions and spells, to interact with the game board
Hearthstone's collection interface displaying cards for the Mage class

Set within the Warcraft universe, Hearthstone is a digital-only, turn-based collectible card game which pits two opponents against each other. Players select a hero from one of ten classes. All classes have unique cards and abilities, known as hero powers, which help define class archetypes.[4] Each player uses a deck of cards from their collection with the end goal being to reduce the opponent's health to zero. There are four different types of cards: minions, spells, weapons, and hero cards. Quests are a specific type of spell only found in three expansions.[5][6] These cards are ordered by rarity, with Legendary cards being the rarest, followed by Epic, Rare, Common, and Basic.[7] Blizzard releases expansions of additional cards every four months to increase the variety in the metagame. The game uses a freemium model of revenue, meaning players can play for free or pay to acquire additional card packs or content.[8]

Unlike other card games such as Magic: The Gathering, Hearthstone was designed to speed up play by eliminating any manual reactions from the opposing player during a player's turn, and setting a timer for each player's turn. During a turn, players play cards from their hand using "mana", a budget each player must abide by which increases by one each turn with a maximum of ten, and with cards having various mana costs.[4] This invokes strategy as the player must plan ahead, taking into account what cards can and cannot be played. Minions and spells are unique. Minions will be placed directly onto the board after being played and may carry special effects like Charge or Deathrattle, allowing the minion to attack instantly or making the minion do something special upon death, respectively. Spells have distinctive effects and affect the board in various ways. Cards can be obtained through opening card packs or by crafting them with arcane dust.[9]

Game modes

The normal gameplay mode is one-on-one matches between a player and a randomly selected human opponent. Within this, the Standard game mode uses prepared decks limited to cards from the Basic and Classic sets alongside the expansions from the last two years. A separate Wild game mode allows all past and present cards to be used subject to deck construction rules.[10] Both Standard and Wild game modes are divided into Casual and Ranked modes. Players can climb the tiered ranking system in Ranked, while Casual allows for a more relaxed play-style. At the end of each month the Ranked season ends, rewarding players with in-game items depending on their performance.[11]

Other more specialized multiplayer modes include the following:

  • Arena has the player draft a deck of thirty cards from choices of three cards over several rounds. Players continue to use this deck against other Arena decks until they win or loses a number of matches, after which the deck is retired and players gain in-game rewards based on their record.[12]
  • Tavern Brawls are challenges that change weekly and may impose unusual deck-building guidelines.[13]
  • Battlegrounds, introduced in November 2019, is based on the auto battler genre, allowing eight players to compete in each match by recruiting minions over several rounds. Players are paired off randomly in each round, with combat between minions played out automatically, with the goal of having minions remaining to damage the opponent's hero, and ultimately be the last hero standing.[14]

In addition to these multiplayer modes, there are solo adventures. These adventures offer alternative ways to play and are designed specifically to challenge the player.[8]

Card sets
See also: Gameplay of Hearthstone § Expansions and adventures

The following table lists the card set releases by their name, type, North American date of release (with the release in other regions typically within a day afterward), the date of the expansion's removal from the Standard format, and the distribution of cards within that set.

Initially, Blizzard introduced an alternating series of Expansions and Adventures, with roughly three new sets released each year. Expansions are new card sets, containing between 100-200 new cards, that become available to buy or win, as well as introducing new mechanics to the gameplay.[15][16][17] Adventures feature smaller number of cards, around 30, which can only be earned by completing multiple tiers of story-based challenges and boss fights in single-player mode. In 2017, Blizzard changed their approach, and plan to only release Expansions in the future, through at least 2018. Blizzard moved away from Adventures as they found that because Adventures gated the set's cards until the challenges were completed, these cards did not readily enter the meta-game, and when they did, they would be used more by expert players who could easily complete the Adventures' challenges compared to amateur players.[18] Blizzard recognized that players do enjoy the single-player narrative events and have worked in quests and missions around the new card sets for those players.[19] Examples of these quests and missions include facing the bosses of Icecrown Citadel with Knights of the Frozen Throne's release, and the new dungeon run feature which appeared in the Kobolds and Catacombs expansion.

Blizzard has adopted a "Year" moniker to identify when expansions rotate and retire from Standard format. At the commencement of the first year, "Year of the Kraken" (from April 2016 to April 2017), Blizzard retired the Curse of Naxxramas and Goblins vs. Gnomes sets. At the commencement of the second year, "Year of the Mammoth" (from April 2017 to April 2018), Blizzard retired the Blackrock Mountain, The Grand Tournament and League of Explorers sets. At the commencement of the third year, "Year of the Raven" (April 2018 to early 2019), Blizzard retired the Whispers of the Old Gods, One Night in Karazhan and Mean Streets of Gadgetzan sets.[20] Initially, after such time as the adventures and expansions were retired, these sets were no longer available for purchase. However, due to player demand in July 2017, players were again able to purchase these retired sets and all future sets that are retired from Standard by using real money on Blizzard's online store.[21] In the "Year of the Mammoth", Standard moved some Classic cards to the "Hall of Fame" set that is not playable in Standard but the cards still can be obtained and are available to play in Wild format.[19][22] In the "Year of the Raven", three additional Classic cards were moved to the "Hall of Fame" set.[20]

Collectible cards breakdown
Set name (abbreviation) Release type Release date Removal date
from Standard		 Total Common Rare Epic Legendary
Basic Core March 11, 2014 N/A 143 N/A
Classic[lower-alpha 2] Core March 11, 2014 N/A 240 92 80 36 32
Reward[lower-alpha 3] Core March 11, 2014 April 26, 2016 0 0 0 0 0
Hall of Fame (HoF)[lower-alpha 4] Core N/A Periodically 35 11 8 7 9
Curse of Naxxramas (Naxx)[25] Adventure July 22, 2014[26] April 26, 2016 30 18 4 2 6
Goblins vs. Gnomes (GvG) Expansion December 8, 2014[27] April 26, 2016 123 40 37 26 20
Blackrock Mountain (BRM)[28] Adventure April 2, 2015[29] April 6, 2017 31 15 11 0 5
The Grand Tournament (TGT) Expansion August 24, 2015[30] April 6, 2017 132 49 36 27 20
League of Explorers (LoE) Adventure November 12, 2015[31] April 6, 2017 45 25 13 2 5
Year of the Kraken
Whispers of the Old Gods (WOG)[32] Expansion April 26, 2016[33] April 12, 2018 134 50 36 27 21
One Night in Karazhan (Kara) Adventure August 11, 2016[34] April 12, 2018 45 27 12 1 5
Mean Streets of Gadgetzan (MSG) Expansion December 1, 2016[35] April 12, 2018 132 49 36 27 20
Year of the Mammoth
Journey to Un'Goro (Un'goro)[22] Expansion April 6, 2017[36] April 9, 2019 135 49 36 27 23
Knights of the Frozen Throne (KFT) Expansion August 10, 2017[37] April 9, 2019 135 49 36 27 23
Kobolds & Catacombs (KnC) Expansion December 7, 2017[38] April 9, 2019 135 49 36 27 23
Year of the Raven
The Witchwood (Woods) Expansion April 12, 2018[39] April 7, 2020 129 48 35 25 21
The Boomsday Project (Boomsday) Expansion August 7, 2018[40] April 7, 2020 136 49 36 27 24
Rastakhan's Rumble (Rumble) Expansion December 4, 2018[41] April 7, 2020 135 49 36 27 23
Year of the Dragon
Rise of Shadows (RoS) Expansion April 9, 2019[42] TBA 2021 136 49 36 27 24
Saviors of Uldum (SoU) Expansion August 6, 2019[43] TBA 2021 135 49 36 27 23
Descent of Dragons (Dragons) Expansion December 10, 2019[6] TBA 2021 140 49 36 27 28
Galakrond's Awakening (Awakening) Adventure January 21, 2020[44] TBA 2021 35 15 12 4 4
Year of the Phoenix
Demon Hunter Initiate (DH) Adventure April 2, 2020[45] TBA 2022 20 8 6 4 2
Ashes of Outland Expansion April 7, 2020[46] TBA 2022 135 51 35 24 25
Scholomance Academy Expansion TBA 2020 TBA 2022 135 52 35 23 25
All released cards (through Ashes)[47] 2496 893 650 426 386
  1. (until early 2018)[1]
  2. Nine cards originally in Classic were moved to the Hall of Fame set that is not playable in Standard.
  3. Four Reward cards were originally included and given to players on completing certain tasks. Two Reward cards were not playable in Standard in the Year of the Kraken; with the Year of the Mammoth, all Reward cards were moved into the Hall of Fame set.
  4. The Hall of Fame set consists of cards that have been rotated out of Standard, mostly taken from the Classic set. Because of the sporadic additions to the set, there are no definite release or removal dates.[23][24]

Development

Conception
Hearthstone interface designer Derek Sakamoto presents at GDC 2015

Development of Hearthstone at Blizzard was inspired by two directions, according to developer Eric Dodds: a desire for Blizzard to develop something more experimental with a smaller team in contrast to their larger projects, and the shared love of collectible card games throughout the company.[48] Blizzard executives, around 2008, had considered that their revenue was primarily sustained on three well-established properties (the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo series), but saw the rise of small independent developers with highly successful projects, representing a shift in the traditional video game model. To explore this new direction, Blizzard brought a number of people into "Team 5", named after being the fifth development team formed at Blizzard.[49] Initially, the team had between 12 and 15 members, in contrast to other Blizzard games with teams in excess of 60 members.[48] By November 2015, the team had 47 members.[50]

Of the game types they explored, Team 5 soon focused on the collectible card game approach, given that many on the team and in Blizzard had played such games since their introduction.[49] The team found it natural to build the card game around the existing Warcraft lore; according to production director Jason Chayes, Warcraft was already a well-known property, and the depth of characters and locations created for other games in that series made it easy to create cards inspired by those. They also saw that new players to Warcraft may be drawn into the other games through playing Hearthstone.[51] The team was able to pull concepts and art from the pre-existing World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, first published in 2006 by Upper Deck and later by Cryptozoic Entertainment; when Hearthstone was near completion, in 2013, Blizzard terminated its license with Cryptozoic as to favor their pending digital card game.[49] The addition of heroes, an aspect from the previous trading card game, was found to help personalize the game for the player to allow players to discover useful combinations of cards for each hero.[51][49]

Game design and programming

After about a year of starting development, the team had produced an Adobe Flash prototype of the game that offered the core card game mechanics and the unique heroes. At this point, several on Team 5 were temporarily moved into other teams to complete the release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. This 10-to-11 month period was considered fortuitous by the team, according to Chayes. Principal designers Dodds and Ben Brode remained developing Hearthstone, and the two were able to quickly iterate many ideas using both the prototype and physical replicas to fine-tune the game mechanics. Secondly, those that were put on StarCraft II came back with ideas based on StarCraft's asymmetric gameplay to help balance the various heroes while still creating a unique characterization and play-style for each.[49]

Further development on the game's user interface began using the principle that the game needed to be both accessible and charming, being able to draw in new players and to be clear how to play the game.[49] Unity is used as the game engine in the interest of speed and to make the game run smoother since the server is where all of the rules exist and calculations happen then the server tells the client what happened. Dodds stated that "it's important that you don't have to spend a lot of time understanding the rules to play the game, the depth grows as you go."[49] Gameplay elements such as pre-made decks for each hero, deck building helps, and visual cues on which cards could be played were used to guide new players. Card text was written in a way so that a new player should be able to immediately understand the effects.[49]

From the beginning, the game was designed to be played solely online and to mimic the feel of physical cards to make it more accessible to new players. Dodds found that past attempts to digitize physical card games by other companies left areas they felt were lacking, and wanted to improve on that experience.[48] One particular example are card games where players have the ability to react to other players; Dodds noted that when playing in the same room as another player, these types of interactions are straightforward, but consume a great deal of time in a virtual space. Hearthstone was designed to eliminate any gameplay from the opponent during the player's turn, streamlining the game.[51]

Other aspects of the game's interface were set to replicate the feel of a physical game being watched by an audience: Hearthstone starts with the player opening a box, during gameplay the cards waver and move while in their hand, and cards when played slam down on the board. When attacking, cards leap across the board to strike the target; when a massive spike of damage is dealt, the board shakes; when a massive creature is summoned, the unseen audience gasps in awe.[51] Hearthstone also offers interactive boards. The boards on which the cards are played can be interacted with in various ways, such as virtually petting a dragon, although the feature is purely for entertainment and has no effect on gameplay.[51] This idea came out from the movie Jumanji in which a board game comes to life, and also mimics how physical card players would often toy with their cards while waiting on their opponent.[52]

Unlike physical trading card games, "Hearthstone" was designed early on without any trading system between players. Hamilton Chu, the executive producer of Hearthstone, stated that "a key thing for us was focusing on [the user]... playing the game", and that trading and market features would dilute this experience.[53] Blizzard wanted to do things such as avoid a free market where card values could fluctuate, discourage cheating methods like bots and duping, reduce the unauthorized third party sales (all against the terms of use), and keep the profit derived from the game for the company.[54]

The game's name, Hearthstone, was meant to imply to a close gathering of friends by a hearth, a goal of what they want players to feel.[51] According to Chayes, they had experimented with other constructs of where these card games would take place, and only about halfway through development came onto the idea of using a pub's hearth as the theme; Chayes stated that with that concept, "this is a great way to play, it works with all our values, it has a lot of charm".[52] To maintain a friendly environment around this construct, they added in the ability to trigger one of a few friendly compliments that can be said by a hero, so that players could still emote to their opponent without having to worry about any vitriol.[52]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Peter McConnell; with trailer music by Jason Hayes.[55] According to McConnell and Dodds, who oversaw the music direction, they wanted to create a soundtrack that would reflect the tavern setting they had established for the game, but they did not want to overwhelm this theme. McConnell came upon the idea of mixing Celtic music with blues rock—pondering the idea of "what if ZZ Top or Golden Earring had been transported back in time to the Middle Ages?"—and working in other previous Warcraft themes among the new songs with help from Hayes.[55] Hayes also worked with Glenn Stafford to create short "stingers" of music used when players summon Legendary cards.[55]

Beta changes

The beta testing periods were used to evaluate the game's balance, adjusting cards found to be too powerful or too weak, and making sure no single hero or deck type dominated the game.[52] As they approached the game's release in March 2014, Blizzard found that it was hard to generate interest in getting people to try the game; those they asked to try the game felt that Hearthstone was not the type of game they would be interested in playing. At this point, Blizzard opted to make Hearthstone free to play and while card packs can be bought with in-game currency earned through winning matches and completing quests, players can also buy packs if they do not want to wait on earning currency. This helped to significantly boost the game's popularity on release.[52]

Ongoing support

Blizzard provides regular bug fixes, updates, and expansions for Hearthstone. Hamilton Chu, the former executive producer for Hearthstone, stated that Blizzard intends to support the game for ten to twenty years.[56] The principle means that additional cards have been introduced to the game are through either themed Expansions or Adventures. Blizzard had originally envisioned to release Expansions in a staged approach as to not drastically jar the player community, creating the Adventure concept for the first post-release addition with Curse of Naxxramas. The meta-game remained unpredictable for several months, helping to keep the playing community interested in playing the game and invalidating their strategies. The solo challenges on Adventure mode also served as a means to help players understand some of the stronger archetypes of card decks and learn strategies to defeat them, helping them become better players against human opponents.[57] Going forward in 2017 in the "Year of the Mammoth", future expansions will principally be around the new card sets, forgoing Adventures.

Development of the themes and mechanics for each Expansion and Adventure are often based on the current atmosphere around the Hearthstone community, according to senior designer Mike Donais.[56] While early expansions were based on the Warcraft franchise, the developers have been able to move away from staying with that narrative and are free to create new aspects not established by Warcraft. This idea was reflected by the dropping of the "Heroes of Warcraft" subtitle from the game's name around December 2016 to demonstrate to new players that the game was no longer tied to Warcraft.[58]

In addition to new cards and mechanics, Blizzard has also worked to add new features to Hearthstone itself. The Tavern Brawl mode was in development for over a year before it was released in June 2015; the feature went through many iterations before the team was satisfied.[59] Dodds equated the Tavern Brawl mode as a place to try experimental mechanics that may later be introduced to the game, as well as to offer gameplay that varies significantly from other areas of play within Hearthstone.[60] Blizzard experimented with cross-platform play during development, having successfully played a game on PC against a player using an iPad; however, it was not a feature at launch.[61] Cross-platform play was added in April 2014.

The introduction of the Standard vs. Wild formats in April 2016 was an issue that the developers knew since Hearthstone's initial release that they would need to address; according to Brode, as new cards were introduced to the game, they recognized that new players would start to find the game inaccessible, while adjusting the balance of the meta-game of which cards from previous expansions had proven over- or underused.[62] The ideas for how to actually implement Standard mode started about a year before its introduction. Though they will continue to design the game to maintain the appropriate balance for the Standard format, they will also monitor how future cards will impact the Wild format and make necessary changes to keep that mode entertaining.[62] With the Year of the Mammoth changes to Standard, the designers opted to move some Classic cards to a new "Hall of Fame" set that is not usable in Standard. They found that these cards were often "auto-includes" for certain deck types, and created a stagnant metagame around those decks, and opted to move them out of Standard. As compensation, those that own these Hall of Fame cards received the arcane dust value of the cards they possess while still being able to use those cards in Wild.[19] The "Hall of Fame" format also allows Blizzard to move Classic cards that have been nerfed (purposely weakened) previously to be un-nerfed and moved into the "Hall of Fame"; Blizzard found that players using Wild decks were impacted significantly by these nerfs and this approach would allow those deck formats to still thrive without disrupting Standard. To make up for cards moving out of Classic, Blizzard may consider bringing in individual cards from retired sets into the Classic set that they believe would be suitable for Standard.[63] The associated switch of Arena mode from Wild to Standard with modified card rarity distributions with the "Year of the Mammoth" update was aimed to keep the pool of cards available to draft smaller, increasing the chances of drafting cards that they had intended to be used in synergistic combinations from the individual expansions.[64]

Release

Hearthstone was first announced with the subtitle Heroes of Warcraft at Penny Arcade Expo in March 2013 for Windows, Mac, and iPad, with an expected release date in the same year.[65][66] Internal beta testing of the game within Blizzard began in 2012.[52] In August 2013, the game went into closed beta, to which over one million players had been invited as of November 8, 2013,[16] with plans to enter open beta in December.[67][68][69] Blizzard continued closed beta into mid-January 2014 despite their original estimation.[70] Blizzard announced open beta for North America on January 21, 2014.[71] Open beta was announced for Europe on January 22, 2014[72] and on January 23, 2014 open beta was made available in all regions.[73]

The game was released on March 11, 2014,[74] available on Microsoft Windows and macOS operating systems. By the end of March 2014, the game had more than 10 million player accounts registered worldwide.[75] On April 2, 2014, the game was released for iPad in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.[76] On April 16, 2014 it was released globally for iPads.[77] On August 6, 2014, support for Windows 8 touchscreen devices was added to the game, although not for Windows RT devices.[78] On December 15, 2014, the game was released for Android tablets 6" or larger in Australia, Canada and New Zealand and on December 16, 2014 it was widely released for Android tablets.[79] On April 14, 2015, the game was released for iPhone and Android smartphones worldwide. The smartphone version of the game includes new UI elements that place the player's hand on the bottom right but only half visible, so players must tap on their hand to zoom in and play cards. Single cards can also be viewed full screen by tapping and holding on a specific card, which is useful to read all the card details while using a smartphone display.[80]

In-game promotions

To mark the release of Hearthstone, Blizzard released the Hearthsteed mount for World of Warcraft players that is obtained by winning three games in Arena or Play mode.[81] Widely advertised on various World of Warcraft websites, this promotion encourages players to try Hearthstone, and marked the first significant crossover implemented between Blizzard games. Since then, multiple promotions have been implemented in other Blizzard titles such as Diablo III: Reaper of Souls,[82] Heroes of the Storm,[83] StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void [84] and Overwatch.[85]

An alternate hero for Shaman, Morgl the Oracle, is available through Hearthstone's "Recruit A Friend" program after the recruited friend reaches level 20.[86] Players that connected their Amazon Prime subscription to Twitch Prime in late 2016 earned the alternate Priest hero Tyrande Whisperwind.[87] Other Twitch Prime promotions have included a golden pack, which is a Classic card pack that only contains golden versions of cards, two exclusive card backs, and two Kobolds and Catacombs packs.

Since the Blackrock Mountain adventure, each expansion and adventure have introduced an exclusive card back for players that pre-ordered it.[88][89] The Boomsday Project, Rastakhan's Rumble, Rise of Shadows, Saviors of Uldum, Descent of Dragons and Ashes of Outland expansions each offered an alternate hero portrait as a bonus for ordering the largest preorder bundle - Mecha-Jaraxxus for Warlock, King Rastakhan for Shaman, Madame Lazul for Priest, Elise Starseeker for Druid, Deathwing for Warrior and Lady Vashj for Shaman respectively.[43]

Other media

To promote the Journey to Un'Goro set, Blizzard made a web series called "Wonders Of Un'Goro" featuring an adventurer exploring the area.[90]

Before releasing the Knights of the Frozen Throne set, Blizzard worked with Dark Horse Comics to publish a three-issue comic book series based on the set's Death Knight theme.[91]

To promote the Kobolds & Catacombs set, Blizzard released "The Light Candle", a live-action short spoofing films from Jim Henson of the 1980s while its characters are exploring a dungeon.[92]

Professional competitions
Main article: Hearthstone in esports

Thanks to the designers' focus on accessibility and fast-paced gameplay, Hearthstone has been the focus of a number of tournaments. Blizzard hosted an exhibition tournament in November 2013 called "The Innkeeper's Invitational" with three decks each of a different class, featuring several well-known gamers such as Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski, Octavian "Kripparrian" Morosan, Jeffrey "TrumpSC" Shih and Byron "Reckful" Bernstein.[93] Artosis won the best-of-five tournament. Hearthstone was the focus of a number of other tournaments during its closed beta, including those hosted by Major League Gaming and ESL. In March 2014, The esports organization Tespa announced the Collegiate Hearthstone Open, a free-to-enter tournament open to all North American college students, featuring $5,000 in scholarships.[94] Major League Gaming,[95] ESL[96] and the ZOTAC Cup all continue to regularly host minor Hearthstone leagues in the North American and European territories with small or no prize pools aimed at everyday players. Blizzard staff were stated to have been surprised with the game's success as an esport during its closed beta.[15]

In April 2014, Blizzard announced the first Hearthstone World Championship would be held at BlizzCon on November 7–8.[97] The tournament featured players from each of the game's four regions, with each region holding its own regional qualifying tournament. The Americas and Europe regions' qualifiers featured 160 players each and determined half of those players from actual in-game performance in Ranked play during the April–August seasons. The four most successful participants of each region's qualifiers went to the World Championship, for a total of 16 players. The Hearthstone World Championship 2014 featured a total prize pool of $250,000, and the American winner, James "Firebat" Kostesich, received $100,000.[98][99]

The second Hearthstone World Championship was held at BlizzCon 2015 on November 7 with players selected in a similar way in the previous year and it was played in the best-of-five conquest format; the Swede winner, Sebastian "Ostkaka" Engwall, received $100,000.[100] The third World Championship was held at BlizzCon 2016 on November 5 and the Russian winner, Pavel Beltiukov, received $250,000.[101] It was played in a Swiss-system tournament format and one class could be banned from use by the opponent. The fourth World Championship had a $1 million prize pool and took place in January 2018; it was held in Amsterdam.[102] The championship was moved to January to better accommodate the timing for Standard mode's yearly rotation. The Taiwanese winner, Chen "tom60229" Wei Lin, received $250,000.[103] The fifth Hearthstone World Championship took place in April 2019 and was held in Taipei; the winner was Norwegian Casper "Hunterace" Notto that received $250,000.[104] The first Hearthstone Grandmasters Global Finals was held at BlizzCon 2019; the winner was Chinese Xiaomeng "VKLiooon" Li that received $200,000; VKLiooon was the first woman to win the Hearthstone world championship and to also win any BlizzCon tournament.[105]

Heartstone has also been a part of a number of esport demonstration events at international competitions, such as the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and 2018 Asian Games.[106][107][108]

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
MetacriticIOS: 93/100[109]
PC: 88/100[110]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Eurogamer10/10[111]
Game Informer9/10[112]
GameSpot8/10[113]
IGN9/10[114]
PC Gamer (US)80/100[115]
TouchArcade[116]
Edit on Wikidata

Hearthstone received "universal acclaim" on iOS and "generally favorable" reviews for PC, according to review aggregator Metacritic. The game was praised for its simplicity, gameplay pace, and attention to detail along with being free-to-play, while the lack of actual card trading between players and any form of tournament mode was pointed out as the major shortcomings. Eurogamer gave the game the perfect score of 10 and remarked that the game is "overflowing with character and imagination, feeds off and fuels a vibrant community of players and performers, and it only stands to improve as Blizzard introduces new features, an iPad version and expansions."[117] IGN and Game Informer both gave the game a slightly lower grade of 9/10,[118][119] with IGN's Justin Davis praising the game for its "elegant simplicity of rules" and "impressive attention to detail and personality, and the true viability of playing completely for free make it easy to fall under its spell and get blissfully lost in the depths of its strategic possibilities."[114] GameSpot gave the game a score of 8/10, praising the game for its depth and complexity. The only major drawback noted was that the "absence of extra features hampers long-term appeal".[113]

Later Hearthstone card expansions have also been well received. Game Informer rated the Curse of Naxxramas expansion 9/10, stating "Naxxramas is an excellent addition to the core game, and an exploration of sorts to examine the potential for additional single-player Hearthstone content [...] the adventure provides a substantial amount of new content that spills over into ranked, casual, and arena mode and changes how you approach the game."[120] PC Gamer found that "[Curse of Naxxramas is] a much-needed and fun refresher for Blizzard’s card battler", however "the next card expansion will need to be more sizeable", rating it 78/100.[121] Reception for Goblins vs. Gnomes has also been positive, with Game Informer writing "the first expansion set for Hearthstone is a major step forward for the already accessible and fun game", and awarding it a score of 9.25/10,[122] while Eurogamer scored it an 8/10, writing "whatever happens to Hearthstone in the future, the new content has stumbled a little by strengthening certain deck archetypes that needed no such help [...] it's re-introduced a thoughtfulness to play that's been absent for too long."[123]

Commentators have noted that Hearthstone can suffer from "pay to win" mechanics, that those that invest monetarily into the game to get new cards and packs have generally a better chance of winning, though it is possible to be successful without spending money.[124][125] Some have observed that with some of the newer expansions, with the need for strong Legendary cards to construct good decks around, one may need to spend about $50 to $100 to get the right cards to make a successful decks in the Standard format, belying the game's free-to-play nature.[126] Daniel Friedman for Polygon estimated that to stay "current" within Hearthstone, specifically acquiring each of the released Legendary cards, would cost about $400 between booster pack purchases per year; Friedman argues the need to stay current for hard-core players is compounded by the power creep that comes with each new expansion that tends to diminish the effects of cards from older expansions. Friedman does add that this cost is less an issue for casual players since it is still possible to rank well during each season play with fundamental deck types.[127]

Sales and playerbase

By September 2014, there were more than 20 million registered Hearthstone players[128][129] and by January 2015, there were more than 25 million.[130] As of June 2015, the active players were estimated to be about eight million PC players and nine million mobile device players, with some overlap between each group.[131] Blizzard reported 30 million players in May 2015, 40 million in November 2015 and 50 million in April 2016.[132] Blizzard reported it gained 20 million players over the following year, reaching 70 million unique players, and that they saw record numbers for simultaneous players during the launch of the "Journey to Un'Goro" expansion in April 2017.[133] By November 2018, Blizzard stated that Hearthstone had achieved over 100 million players.[134]

On May 6, 2015, Activision Blizzard announced that Hearthstone and Destiny generated nearly $1 billion in revenue for the company.[135] According to SuperData Research, in June 2015 Hearthstone generated about $20 million in revenue during that month.[136] KeyBanc Capital Markets estimates that Hearthstone generates an annual revenue of $600 million worldwide, as of July 2019.[137]

Hearthstone has proved to be a popular game to stream and watch on services like Twitch; Hearthstone-based streams overtook Dota 2 streams to become the third-most watched game on the platform in September 2015[138] and it was the fourth-most watched game in April 2016.[139] In March 2017, Hearthstone was still the fourth-most watched game while nearly matching Dota 2's hours.[140]

Awards

Forbes awarded Hearthstone as the best digital card game of 2013.[141] At The Game Awards 2014, Hearthstone was awarded the best mobile/handheld game.[142] In December 2014, GameSpot awarded Hearthstone with mobile game of the year.[143] GameTrailers awarded Hearthstone with multiplayer game of the year and best overall game of 2014.[144][145] At the 18th Annual DICE Awards, Hearthstone was awarded with "Mobile Game of the Year" and "Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year", as well as nominations for "Game of the Year", "Outstanding Achievement in Game Design", "Outstanding Innovation in Gaming", and "Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay".[146] At the 2014 BAFTA Awards, Hearthstone won best multiplayer game.[147] At the 2014 NAVGTR Awards Hearthstone won the Game, Strategy (Dan Elggren) award.[148] The One Night in Karazhan expansion pack won the award each for "Best Handheld Audio" and "Best Sound Design in a Casual/Social Game" at the 15th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards, whereas its other nomination was for "Best Music in a Casual/Social Game".[149] In 2018, the Kobolds and Catacombs expansion pack was nominated for "Best Sound Design in a Casual/Social Game", while the game itself won the award for "Best Original Song" with "Hearth and Home" at the 16th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards.[150] In 2019, The Boomsday Project won the awards for "Best Music in a Casual/Social Game" and "Best Sound Design in a Casual/Social Game" at the 17th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards.[151]

Notes
    gollark: Hey, if you're trying to reconnect the auxiliary CPU alarm, you'll need to do better than posting a vaguely code-looking thing which doesn't work.
    gollark: But it definitely would't *work* in anything.
    gollark: I mean, maybe esolangs which work by character and ignore invalid ones, sort of thing.
    gollark: Seriously. I don't think that's valid syntax in *any programming language at all*.
    gollark: That would literally work in no programming languages.

    References
    1. Campbell, Colin (April 20, 2018). "Hearthstone game director quits Blizzard". Polygon.
    2. Wilson, Jason (August 10, 2017). "PC Gaming Weekly: Watch out, Hearthstone — here comes Artifact". VentureBeat. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
    3. "Blizzard celebrates 100 million Hearthstone players with free card packs for everyone".
    4. "Tips and tricks guide for Hearthstone beginners". dotesports.com. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    5. "Rating the power level of Hearthstone's new Journey to Un'Goro quests". PC Gamer.
    6. "Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons, new expansion revealed". Adventures in poor taste. November 1, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
    7. "Blizzard's Chinese Hearthstone website confirms card rarity drop rates". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    8. "First 'Hearthstone' expansion of 2018 delves into 'The Witchwood'". engadget.com. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    9. "The best Hearthstone decks for beginners". gamesradar.com. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    10. Shea, Cam (February 27, 2018). "Hearthstone is Un-nerfing Molten Giant and Moving it into Wild". IGN. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    11. "Hearthstone is bringing big changes to its ranked system". venturebeat.com. January 25, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    12. Kollar, Philip (September 8, 2016). "Hearthstone's Arena mode receiving an overhaul, dozens of cards to be removed". Polygon. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    13. Kollar, Philip (June 10, 2015). "Hearthstone's Tavern Brawl mode adds rotating weekly challenges". Polygon. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    14. Goslin, Austen (November 1, 2019). "Blizzard announces Hearthstone Battlegrounds, a new autobattler set in the Warcraft Universe". Polygon. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
    15. Goldfarb, Andrew (November 9, 2013). "What's Next for Blizzard's Hearthstone". IGN. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
    16. "Hearthstone at BlizzCon – Fireside Chat Panel Highlights". November 8, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
    17. "Dev Interview: New Heroes, Gameboards, Adventure Mode; Legends of Hearthstone BS2W2". HearthPwn. January 25, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
    18. Nunneley, Stephany (November 28, 2017). "Due to Hearthstone cards being gated in Adventures the feature won't return in 2018". VG247. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
    19. Kollar, Philip (February 16, 2017). "Hearthstone's approach to expansions is totally changing in the Year of the Mammoth". Polygon. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
    20. "Hearthstone Year of the Raven: release date, expansions, cards, heroes, features - everything we know". PCGamesN. February 28, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
    21. Dwan, Hannah (July 1, 2017). "All of Hearthstone's previous expansions and adventures are going to be available again". PCGamesN. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
    22. O'Conner, Alice (April 7, 2017). "Hearthstone's Journey to Un'Goro now out". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
    23. "Ragnaros and Sylvanas will only be playable in Wild once Hearthstone's next set launches". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
    24. "Hearthstone Marks 2018 as the 'Year of the Raven'". Shacknews. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
    25. Zeriyah (April 11, 2014). "Beware the Curse of Naxxramas!". Blizzard Entertainment.
    26. Matulef, Jeffery (July 30, 2014). "Hearthstone's Curse of Naxxramas expansion release date confirmed". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
    27. Marks, Tom (December 2, 2014). "Hearthstone's Goblins vs Gnomes expansion gets a release date". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
    28. "Blackrock Mountain - New Cards, Card Backs, Gameboard, Cinematic". hearthpwn.com. March 6, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
    29. Marks, Tom (March 27, 2015). "Hearthstone's Blackrock Mountain will be available next week". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
    30. Chalk, Andy (August 19, 2015). "Hearthstone: The Grand Tournament comes out next week". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
    31. Nunneley, Stephany (November 6, 2015). "Hearthstone: League of Explorers announced at BlizzCon 2015". VG247. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
    32. The Next 'Hearthstone' Expansion Is 'Whispers Of The Old Gods' Techtimes, Retrieved March 13, 2016.
    33. Marks, Tom (April 19, 2016). "Hearthstone's latest expansion will release early next week". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
    34. Shea, Cam (July 29, 2016). "The Next Hearthstone Adventure is One Night in Karazhan". IGN.
    35. Nunneley, Stephanny (November 4, 2016). "Hearthstone's next expansion is Mean Streets of Gadgetzan and it's out in early December". VG247. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
    36. Minotti, Mike (March 31, 2017). "Hearthstone: Journey to Un'Goro is launching on April 6". Venture Beat. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
    37. Wilson, Jason (July 6, 2017). "Hearthstone's Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion will launch in August". Venture Beat. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
    38. Clark, Time (November 3, 2017). "Hearthstone heads underground in December with the Kobolds & Catacombs expansion". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
    39. Kime, Matt (April 5, 2018). "New Hearthstone Expansion, The Witchwood, Releases Next Week". USGamer. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
    40. Minotti, Mike (July 10, 2018). "Hearthstone: The Boomsday Project expansion brings back the mechs". Venture Beat. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
    41. Palo, Susano (November 2, 2018). "Hearthstone's new expansion is Rastakhan's Rumble". Polygon. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
    42. Jones, Ali (February 28, 2019). "Hearthstone's next expansion will begin the Year of the Dragon". PCGamesN. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
    43. Watts, Steve (July 1, 2019). "Hearthstone's Next Expansion, Saviors of Uldum, Launches In August". GameSpot. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
    44. "Galakrond's Awakening". Playhearthstone. May 9, 2020.
    45. "Demon Hunter Initiate". Playhearthstone. May 9, 2020.
    46. Chalk, Andy (March 17, 2020). "Hearthstone will add the Demon Hunter class with the new Ashes of Outland expansion". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
    47. "All Cards - Hearthstone Card Library". Retrieved December 13, 2019.
    48. Wawro, Alex (March 10, 2014). "Q&A: Hearthstone's small-team success at big-time Blizzard". Gamasutra. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
    49. Stewart, Keith (June 25, 2015). "Hearthstone: how a game developer turned 30m people into card geeks". The Guardian. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
    50. Game of Champions - Team 5's Ben Thompson Talks Evolving Hearthstone from Vanilla to The Grand Tournament November 8, 2015
    51. Stanton, Rich (October 17, 2013). "World of Warcraft: 'Hearthstone began as the best card game we could make'". The Guardian. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
    52. Stewart, Keith (June 26, 2015). "Hearthstone: how a game developer turned 30m people into card geeks, Part 2". The Guardian. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
    53. Goldfarb, Andrew (August 24, 2013). "Gamescom: The Origin and Future of Blizzard's Hearthstone". IGN. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
    54. "Hearthstone: The Absence Of A Trading System." Gamebreaker Video Game News Plus. Gamebreaker Media Group, Inc., April 29, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
    55. "Exclusive tunes along with commentary from the sound team". destructoid.com. August 20, 2013. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
    56. Crossley, Rob (August 19, 2015). "Hearthstone Grand Tournament Interview: "I Don't Like Playing Aggro Decks Either"". GameSpot. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
    57. Watts, Steve (August 21, 2014). "Hearthstone 'Curse of Naxxramas': The AfterNaxx interview". Shacknews. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
    58. Watts, Steve (December 21, 2016). "Hearthstone: Making the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan". Shacknews. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
    59. Designer Insights with Ben Brode: Content Updates. January 12, 2016
    60. Kohlar, Philip (July 22, 2015). "How Arena rewards and Tavern Brawl will be changing in Hearthstone's near future". Polygon. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
    61. Crecente, Brian (March 22, 2013). "World of Warcraft's Hearthstone could include cross-play, be playable inside WoW". Polygon. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
    62. Minotti, Mike (February 10, 2016). "Hearthstone designers discuss Standard, Wild's relevancy, and putting off new classes". VentureBeat. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
    63. Barrett, Ben (February 17, 2017). "Hearthstone dev team considering undoing old nerfs in 2018 thanks to new Hall of Fame". PCGamesN. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
    64. Pereira, Chris (February 23, 2017). "Hearthstone's Arena Is Undergoing Some Significant Changes". GameSpot. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
    65. Kubba, Sinan (March 22, 2013). "Blizzard announces digital collectible card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft". Joystiq. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
    66. "Blizzard Reveals Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft". IGN. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
    67. McWhertor, Michael (August 16, 2013). "Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft beta goes live for PC". Polygon. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
    68. "Hearthstone Entering Open Beta Next Month". IGN. November 8, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
    69. Cobbett, Richard (November 19, 2013). "Hearthstone: Blizzard's secret weapon". Eurogamer. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
    70. "Hearthstone Update—Open Beta - News - Hearthstone". December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
    71. "Hearthstone's Open Beta Is Officially Live". Forbes. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
    72. "Hearthstone Open Beta is Here!". Blizzard Entertainment. January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
    73. "CM_Zeriyah: A very exciting day for Hearthstone: We're in Open Beta in NA, EU, KR/TW and China! Hearthstone for all!". Zeriyah. January 23, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014 – via Twitter.
    74. Zeriyah (March 11, 2014). "Welcome to the Hearthstone Launch!". Retrieved March 11, 2014.
    75. Kris Graft (May 6, 2014). "Activision Blizzard profits are down, but Hearthstone helps drive digital". Gamasutra.
    76. Blizzard Entertainment (April 2, 2014). "Hearthstone iPad Rollout Begins!". Retrieved April 2, 2014.
    77. Zeriyah (April 16, 2014). "Hearthstone™ Now Available on iPad®!". Blizzard Entertainment.
    78. "Hearthstone Patch Notes - 1.1.0.6187". Blizzard Entertainment. August 6, 2014.
    79. Hearthstone on Android Rolls Out, Hearthstone Developer AMA Recap. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
    80. Say Buh-bye Productivity: Blizzard Brings 'Hearthstone' To iOS And Android Smartphones. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
    81. Zeriyah (March 11, 2014). "Ride Into Action on Your Hearthsteed!". Retrieved March 14, 2014.
    82. Blizzard Entertainment (March 20, 2014). "UNLOCK EXPERT CARD PACKS WITH REAPER OF SOULS". Retrieved March 27, 2014.
    83. New Heroes of the Storm Themed Card Back, Hearthstone Mount in Heroes of the Storm. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
    84. PRE-PURCHASE STARCRAFT II: LEGACY OF THE VOID AND PLAY THE “WHISPERS OF OBLIVION” PROLOGUE TODAY Retrieved July 15, 2015.
    85. Overwatch is not free-to-play, all versions come with 21 heroes. November 6, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
    86. "Help Finley Find a Friend". Hearthstone. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
    87. "Try Twitch Prime and Get Tyrande Whisperwind!". Hearthstone. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
    88. Hearthstone Expansion Announcement - The Grand Tournament, Hearthstone Build 9554 Retrieved July 23, 2015.
    89. One Night in Karazhan - A Hearthstone Adventure Hearthpwn, June 29, 2016
    90. Wickline, Dan (March 14, 2017). "Danny Pudi Stars In Hearthstone's New Webseries - Wonders Of Un'Goro". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
    91. "Undeath Conquers All - Comic Book Experience". comic.playhearthstone.com. Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
    92. Bailey, Dustin (December 7, 2017). "Hearthstone's live-action Kobolds & Catacombs trailer pays loving tribute to 80s Henson films". PCGamesN. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
    93. Innkeeper's Invitational announcement , Retrieved on January 11, 2014
    94. Tyler Rosen (March 17, 2014). "Collegiate Hearthstone Open, $5000 in Scholarships, Free entry". The eSports Association. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
    95. Major League Gaming's Hearthstone Tournament Page , Retrieved on January 11, 2014
    96. ESL's American Hearthstone League page , Retrieved on January 11, 2014
    97. "Do You Want To Be A Hearthstone World Champion?". Blizzard Entertainment. April 8, 2014. Archived from the original on April 11, 2014.
    98. "2014 Hearthstone™ World Championship: Americas Qualifier Tournament – $250,000 Prize Pool". Blizzard Entertainment. May 22, 2014.
    99. "BlizzCon 2014: Starcraft 2, WoW and Hearthstone Championships Prove Esport is Serious Business". International Business Times. December 8, 2014.
    100. Swedish player Ostkaka wins the 2015 Hearthstone World Championship at BlizzCon November 7, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
    101. Tassi, Paul. "Russia's Pavel Wins BlizzCon's 2016 'Hearthstone' World Championship". Forbes.
    102. "Changes Coming to Hearthstone Competitive Tour for 2017". Curse Gaming. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
    103. "Hearthstone: tom60229 gets redemption, wins world title". ESPN. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
    104. "Hunterace wins 2019 Hearthstone World Championship". Slack News. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
    105. "'Just forget your gender': Xiaomeng 'VKLiooon' Li becomes first female Hearthstone Grandmasters Global Finals champion". The Washington Times. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
    106. "The second day of the AIMAG 2017 eSports event review". The 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. September 26, 2017. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
    107. "The player list has been revealed who has reached to the final for the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games e-Sports discipline". The 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. May 24, 2017. Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
    108. "AESF Game Result" (PDF). Asian Electronic Sports Federation. July 11, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 31, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
    109. "Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
    110. "Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
    111. Bramwell, Tom. "Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft review". Eurogamer. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
    112. Tack, Daniel. "Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft". Game informer. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
    113. Johnson, Leif. "The Orgrimmar Shuffle". GameSpot. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
    114. Davis, Justin. "HEARTHSTONE: HEROES OF WARCRAFT REVIEW". IGN. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
    115. Thursten, Chris. "Hearthstone review". PC Gamer. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
    116. Carter, Chris (April 16, 2014). "'Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft' for iPad Review – Shuffling for Zul'jin". TouchArcade. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
    117. Bramwell, Tom. "Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft review". Retrieved March 14, 2014.
    118. Davis, Justin. "HEARTHSTONE: HEROES OF WARCRAFT REVIEW". Retrieved March 13, 2014.
    119. Tack, Daniel. "Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft". Retrieved March 12, 2014.
    120. Tack, Daniel. "Hearthstone: Curse of Naxxramas". Game Informer. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
    121. Clark, Tim. "Curse of Naxxramas". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
    122. Tack, Daniel. "Hearthstone: Goblins Vs. Gnomes". Game Informer. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
    123. Bedford, John. "Hearthstone: Goblins vs Gnomes review". Eurogamer. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
    124. Friedman, Daniel (May 9, 2014). "Is Hearthstone pay-to-win? We find out". Polygon. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
    125. Calixto, Joshua (June 2, 2017). "Hearthstone Player Goes From Zero To Legend Without Spending A Dime". Kotaku. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
    126. Calixto, Joshua (April 11, 2017). "Un'Goro Expansion Makes Hearthstone More Random, Probably More Expensive". Kotaku. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
    127. Friedman, Daniel (December 12, 2017). "Hearthstone has become a $400 a year game". Polygon. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
    128. Haywald, Justin (September 15, 2014). "Hearthstone Passes 20 Million Players, What Do You Want to See Next?". GameSpot. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
    129. Mahardy, Mike (September 15, 2014). "Hearthstone Reaches 20 Million Players, Plans Mobile Release in 2014". IGN. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
    130. Matulef, Jeffrey (February 5, 2015). "Destiny has more than 16 million registered users". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
    131. Hearthstone Makes $20 Million Per Month As CCG Market Grows. Escapist Retrieved August 12, 2015.
    132. Frank, Allegra (April 26, 2016). "Hearthstone now has 50 million players". Polygon. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
    133. Chalk, Andy (May 2, 2017). "Hearthstone hits 70 million players, gives everyone three free packs to celebrate". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
    134. Chalk, Andy (November 5, 2018). "Blizzard celebrates 100 million Hearthstone players with free card packs for everyone". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
    135. Matulef, Jeffery (May 6, 2015). "Destiny and Hearthstone have made nearly $1bn in revenue". Eurogamer. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
    136. Pereira, Chris (August 11, 2015). "Hearthstone Now Earns About $20 Million Every Month - Report". GameSpot. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
    137. Deaux, Joe (July 7, 2019). "Move Over Monopoly: Hasbro's Next Big Growth Engine Is Magic". Bloomberg News. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
    138. Minoitti, Mike (October 6, 2015). "Hearthstone overtakes Dota 2 in Twitch's most-watched games of September". VentureBeat. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
    139. Gaudiosi, John (April 6, 2016). "These Are the Most Popular ESports Games on Twitch". Fortune. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
    140. Mansoor, Saqib (March 16, 2017). "League of Legends Was the Most-Watched Game on Twitch Last Month". SegmentNext. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
    141. Daniel Tack (November 26, 2013). "The Best Digital Card Games Of 2013". Forbes.
    142. Eddie Makuch (December 6, 2014). "Dragon Age: Inquisition Wins GOTY at Game Awards". GameSpot.
    143. "Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft - Mobile Game of the Year". GameSpot. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
    144. GameTrailers Archive (December 22, 2014). "Best Multiplayer - Best of 2014 Awards". YouTube. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
    145. GameTrailers (December 22, 2014). "Game of the Year Awards 2014 - Game of the Year". YouTube. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
    146. "18TH ANNUAL D.I.C.E. AWARDS WINNERS". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
    147. Keith Stuart; Jordan Erica Webber (March 13, 2015). "Bafta video game awards: Destiny triumphs, while indies dominate". The Guardian.
    148. "NAVGTR Awards (2014)". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. Archived from the original on March 22, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
    149. Brenna Wilkes (March 7, 2017). "2017 G.A.N.G. Awards Winners". Original Sound Version. Archived from the original on March 7, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
    150. Reilly Farrell (March 30, 2018). "2018 G.A.N.G. Awards winners confirmed [song mislabeled as "Hearthstone Is Home"]". VGMO. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
    151. Stefanie Fogel (March 21, 2019). "'God of War' Wins Six G.A.N.G. Awards, Including Audio of the Year". Variety. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.