Hearthstone, the free-to-play digital collectible trading card game from Blizzard Entertainment, is theoriginal digital CCG. After going live over eight years ago,Hearthstonepioneered many popular trends found in newer CCG competitors. To this day,Hearthstonecontinues to innovate within the mobile market by introducing new ways to play. These gameplay innovations benefitHearthstone’s sizable player base while assuring Blizzard won’t need to make a sequel to keep profits high.
Today,Hearthstonefeatures a vast breadth of digital cards to collect, on top of several wildly different PvE and PvP modes. Expansions make up the majority ofHearthstone’supdatesthat coincide with bug fixing, balance, and content updates. Modes like Tavern Brawl and Arena help serve as a testing ground for off-meta cards and builds found within each expansion’s 100 to 200 card sets.Hearthstoneeven features adventure-themed single-player content that offers players new experiences against AI opponents. It’s the near-constant addition of new modes, expansions, and card sets that keepHearthstonecontinually relevant and profitable amidst its digital CCG peers.
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Player Feedback Has Helped Blizzard Keep Hearthstone Relevant
Hearthstone’scontinued success can be attributed to its developers listening and anticipating player feedback. This allowedBlizzardto constantly change aspects of the CCG that may have worked well initially but would hurt newer players—sometimes to veteran’s ire over time. Still, over the years, those changes needed to happen forHearthstoneto maintain balanced metas and engaging content for all old and new players. In 2020, Blizzard buckled down on this developmental concept and expanded the game into a platform for new modes that fundamentally changed how players interact with the still-popular CCG.
For example, the mode Battlegrounds, released in November 2019, is an auto-battler followingTeamfight Tactics andDota Underlord’ssuccess and features cards and mechanics utterly separate from the standard one-on-one battles ofHearthstone’soriginal modes. Later, in October 2021, a brand-new modelet players take characters they were familiar with and use them as minions in a party-based, turn-based,roguelike mode called Mercenaries.With new ways to play came new ways to earn for Blizzard, and it pivoted over the years to take advantage of money-making trends in free-to-play games—trends like a free and paid battle pass system. Thanks to that willingness to adapt, on top of creative leadership changes,Hearthstoneremains one of Activision-Blizzard’s biggest yearly earners.
The Impact of Hearthstone’s Monetization
The innovation around building a platform of new gameplay concepts, coupled with regular expansions and balance updates, proves Blizzard’s consistent intentions forHearthstone’sfuture. In contrast,Overwatchstarted as a buy-to-play title and then decided to become free-to-play later to give Blizzard more monetization opportunities. WhileHearthstonestarted as a free-to-play title and remains free today, many players don’t like how Blizzard recently monetized several aspects of the digital CCG. From adding a pay-to-win element with Battlegroundsto anew premiumHearthstonecurrency called Runestones, Blizzard keeps finding new ways to make money, meaningHearthstonedoesn’t need a successor to remain a profitable IP.
It is unfortunate that the simple inclusion of a premium currency in a mobile game likeHearthstonecould result in predatory monetization practices. In comparison, there is no better example of anti-consumer monetization thanDiablo Immortal, Blizzard’s mobile adaption of theDiablofranchise that costs over $100,000 to fully deck out just one character. Hopefully, Blizzard will stick to what it knows will keep players happy, rather than overreaching and turning fans against the game.FurtherHearthstonemonetizationlikely all but guarantees there won’t be a sequel; it would just be a shame if Blizzard alienatedHearthstone’s player base in the process.
Hearthstoneis available now for Mobile and PC.
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