Blizzard Entertainment today announced its latest Warcraft title — HearthStone: Heroes of Warcraft, a free-to-play strategy card game.
Revealed at PAX East, Penny Arcade's annual expo in Boston, HearthStone brings the actual world of Warcraft to a different platform, allowing players to choose from one of nine heroes, then take turns playing cards to cast spells, use weapons, or summon characters.
"We looooooove collectible card games and have been playing them since our Silicon & Synapse days," the Blizzard team wrote in its FAQ section. "Creating a digital strategy card game felt like a natural next step for us, so we put together a small team and have been hammering away at HearthStone for a while now."
This marks Blizzard's first free-to-play title, something the company has wanted to try for a while, chief creative officer Rob Pardo told Ars Technica. "But [Blizzard] wanted to focus on making a trading card game that's more accessible and "not just something that us hardcore nerds would play."
The beauty of the game, Blizzard said, is that players don't need any previous understanding of strategy card games or Warcraft; the game teaches users as they play. At launch, 300 cards will be available, with five to a pack. Prices have not been determined yet, but each pack will likely cost about a dollar. Those unwilling to shell out cash for cards can earn them by playing in the freemium model, but should expect slower progress.
A HearthStone demo is available on the PAX show floor, where PCMag's Will Greenwald snapped the photo above. To build the game, Blizzard formed a new team of 15 developers who were offered more freedom to experiment and create quicker games.
The title is currently available for Windows and Mac users, with an iPad version expected in the future. Interested gamers can apply for the beta test online by opting in with their Battle.net account. Check out Blizzard's official game trailer below. And keep up with HearthStone news via Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.