Team 5 is created, and development of Hearthstone begins.[1]Ben Brode states that his first records are from June 2008, but that "full-on development didn't start for a while after that".[2][3]
Deadlines for StarCraft II cause all of Team 5 except Eric Dodds and Ben Brode to be reassigned to that game for around a year. Dodds and Brode begin prototyping, rapidly iterating through myriad designs.[4]
Dodds and Brode produce the first working version of Hearthstone, using Flash.[4] The rest of Team 5 return from working on StarCraft II to begin developing Hearthstone from this basic prototype into the full game.[4]
Following mixed responses from within the company to Hearthstone's initial announcement, in December 2012 the game achieves "broad exposure" across Blizzard, with a substantial portion of employees playing Hearthstone, and beginning to get "really excited" for the game.[1]
The amount of games playable in Arena is increased from 9 to 12
The ability to abandon quests is introduced. Prior to this, quests had to be completed or would remain indefinitely, preventing players from gaining new quests.
The Ranked system now features only a soft-reset at the start of each season
The reconnection feature is added. Prior to this there was no way to reconnect to a game in progress when disconnected mid-game. However, the feature is quickly disabled due to reconnection issues.
Global Play is enabled, allowing players to switch regions
Secrets can no longer be activated during the controlling player's turn. Prior to this players could in some cases intentionally trigger their own secrets (mainly paladins).
Initially available on Windows and OS X operating systems
The World of WarcraftHearthsteed mount is introduced as a reward for winning 3 games in Hearthstone, marking the first significant and rewarding cross-over between the two games
The remaining duration of the current Ranked season is now shown in-game. Prior to this players had to search outside the game to find out when the season would end.
The first Fireside Gatherings take place, with around 40 events featured in official listings.
June 5
With recently unveiled planned class cards for Curse of Naxxramas showing a tendency not to state when certain effects are random, Ben Brode releases a blog sharing the team's approach to the word 'random', explaining that by not explicitly stating the randomness of effects in 'hidden' game areas, groundwork can be laid for future shortening of text. Despite this explanation, continued feedback from players finding the new cards' descriptions confusing and ambiguous eventually lead the team to alter their stance, with an announcement a few days later that the word 'random' will be added to the cards' text.
Curse of Naxxramas - where the fun never dies!
June 24
Several claimed screenshots of Curse of Naxxramas are leaked, showing numerous game details and three unannounced legendary cards. Blizzard neither confirm nor deny the details revealed in the screenshots. However, the adventure's official release nearly a month later confirms the screenshots as genuine.
Blizzard release an official statement regarding botting in Hearthstone, stating that "A fun, fair, and competitive environment is at the very heart of the Hearthstone experience", and that use of botting software is against the game's Terms of Use. The announcement comes as bots rise to prominence in the game for the first time.[8]
September 2014 saw Hearthstone reach the 20 million player mark
September 15
Blizzard announces that more than 20 million players have now played Hearthstone.[9]
September 18
For the first time, player distribution across Ranked play rankings is released, in an announcement blog titled You're Better Than You Think! The title refers to widespread underestimation of player ranking in Ranked mode, due to the pattern of player distribution, with the top 50% of ranks held by around the top 5% of players.
October 21
The first Hearthstone infographic is released, revealing statistics including that the game has so far been played for 2 billion hours in total; that 69 million Hounds have been unleashed; and that the longest ever Play mode win streak was 24 games.[10]
October 27
Blizzard announce the temporary banning of several thousand accounts that were associated with the use of third-party botting software. Furthermore, it is announced that any accounts found using botting software from this point on will be permanently banned without warning.[11] It would later be stated that over 10,000 accounts were banned from the game for botting.[12]
"I hope you like my invention!"
October 30
Just over a week ahead of BlizzCon, press and members of the Hearthstone community begin receiving special "blueprints" for various mechanical minions in the game, sparking speculation among players.[13] The blueprints are accompanied by a note which reads "Making plans for BlizzCon - I hope you like my invention!", the latter line referencing the summoning quote of the Novice Engineer, reinforcing the mechanical theme.[13] Designs include the Harvest Golem, Demolisher, Poultryizer and Repair Bot.
Blizzard announce that they have recently banned a number of accounts found to be engaging in win-trading.[14] Following the recent mass-ban of botting accounts, the announcement is used to further emphases Blizzard's commitment to "fair play" in Hearthstone, and encourage players to abide by the rules.
"Goblins and gnomes... goblins and gnomes!"
November 7
The first Hearthstone expansion Goblins vs Gnomes is announced at BlizzCon 2014.
November 20
The Goblins vs GnomesDeviantART challenge is announced. The challenge is to create an original artwork based on Goblins vs Gnomes, and features a total prize pool of $8,500, as well as various other rewards.[15]
December 8
Hearthstone's first expansion, Goblins vs Gnomes, is released in the US region. The expansion is released in the other regions over the course of the next 2 days.
In March an animated elemental was added to the official site
January 29
Patch 2.1.0.7628 sees a minor adjustment to the China, Korea and Taiwan clients which cause the player 'Hello' emotes to instead say 'Happy New Year'. While trivial, this mark's the game's first seasonal customisation.
February 26
Information gathered by fan sites from an upcoming patch leads to speculation regarding the game's next adventure. With data referring to Molten Core, Ragnaros and 'brm', Blackrock Mountain is speculated to be the theme. The patch comes roughly a week before PAX East, where the new game's content is widely expected to be announced.
Early March
An animated elemental is added to the official site, just above the site navigation bar (see right). In addition, the sample cards on display are changed to Leeroy Jenkins, Twilight Drake, Core Hound, Dark Iron Dwarf and the ever-popular Magma Rager, all characters taken from Blackrock Mountain, apparently confirming the speculation regarding the theme of the adventure.
Screenshots of several claimed cards from the new content are released through third-party forums.
"Blackrock Mountain, a Hearthstone adventure!"
March 3
The official PlayHearthstone Twitter account tweets an image of a Hogger plushie holding a Hearthstone plushie, with the caption "Adventure Awaits!" (see right).[16] The background also appears to depict Redridge Mountains, a zone immediately to the south of the Burning Steppes, the zone in which Blackrock Mountain is located.
March 6
Hearthstone's second adventure, Blackrock Mountain is officially announced at PAX East.
April 2
The first wing of Blackrock Mountain is released.
April 14
Hearthstone is released for iOS and Android phones.[17]
"What this character lacks in height, he makes up for in ferocity! Can you guess his identity?"
May 11
All EU accounts more than a week old are awarded two free Classic card packs in compensation for extensive server outages the previous week.[18][19]
June 3
A new Innkeeper's Journal blog hints at the arrival of a mysterious new patron at the inn.
The alternate hero feature is activated, with Magni, Alleria and Medivh available for purchase.
In anticipation for the coming Tavern Brawl mode, the as yet blank fourth button on the game box begins to sparkle each time the player enters the main menu.
The Collection is upgraded, allowing players to assign a specific card back (and soon a specific hero) to each custom deck.
Blizzard begins sending special packages to the press, which when opened play the fanfare from the Argent Tournament theme. Inside is a scroll which reads:
Champions are gathering from around the world to witness the next exciting thing Hearthstone has in store. News travels far and wide in search of brave new faces ready to answer the call to arms — Are you one of them? Muster for battle and mark July 22 on your calendar. The next bit of news won’t come by carrier pigeon — thankfully, we have much better ways of communication now. Victory awaits.[23]
July 8
The latest The Innkeeper's Tale blog is released, apparently a teaser for the coming expansion. The blog specifically describes a large gathering, with everyone wearing plate - even the magic users and murlocs - as well as a unicorn. The blog ends by teasing that all will be revealed soon.
July 9
The official PlayHearthstone Twitter account begins a series of tweets with a theme of "champions".
July 15
The official's site menu is changed to tease the coming announcement. Opening loading the main page, a sword falls from above the window down into a pile of snow, becoming thoroughly embedded in the menu bar. The sword remains there, with occasional golden sparks appearing from the blade.
July 22
Hearthstone's second expansion, The Grand Tournament is announced by Eric Dodds at a special event at The Foundry, Los Angeles.
"From east to west, heroes are sent, seeking glory in the greatest of events..."
Added with Patch 3.2.0.10604, Hearthstone launches in Japan, with a fully localised client. This is the first major new territory since China's addition during the game's beta. Players in Japan are granted immediate access to the current version of Hearthstone, including all card sets, making this the first territory to join the game in a relatively advanced stage.
November 4
Hearthstone's first cooperative Tavern Brawl, Unite Against Mechazod!, is released, marking the first cooperative two-player experience within the game.
"We are the Explorer's League, and we are in need of explorers!"
With disconnections and downtime in the Europe region coinciding with the release of the latest Tavern Brawl becoming a regular occurrence, Blizzard announce that they will be adding additional testing measures to help prevent this in the future.[24]
"Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the Inn is so delightful. With our decks all good to go, Play Hearthstone! Play Hearthstone! Play Hearthstone!"
December 9
Hearthstone's first seasonal event is added, in the form of Winter Veil. The event brings snow-laden versions of the Stormwind and Orgrimmar battlefields, festive Greetings emotes, a sale on Classic card packs, and a themed Tavern Brawl - Gift Exchange - awarding the special "Winter Veil Wreath" card back.
December 15
As part of efforts to reduce downtime following the release of new Tavern Brawls, the release schedule is changed to have new Brawls debut in the Americas region instead of the Europe region, better suiting the development team's working hours.[25]
Plans to introduce game formats are announced, providing a solution to the problem of the game's ever-increasing card pool. Scheduled for spring 2016, it is stated that the arrival of Standard format will also see balance changes to numerous Basic and Classic cards, as well an increase in the pace of the release cycle, with two new expansions and one new adventure each year.[26]
March 4
A blog on the official site announces that Hearthstone will become available in Thailand, as part of the Americas region, later in the month.[27] Senior Game Producer Yong Woo explains, "It's took a little while for the Innkeeper to learn Thai, but he's super excited to try it out!"[28]
A blog announces that the upcoming expansion will be revealed in a live stream on March 11. The blog begins with the text "Something inside the Tavern stirs . . . what could it be? Don’t worry – you won’t be alone!", inviting readers to "Tune in March 11 at 10:00 a.m. PST to see what has been lurking unfold live on Twitch!"[29]
The arrival of the expansion was heralded by the creation of murals such as this one in Brooklyn, New York
Invitations are sent to select gaming press, inviting them to join the revealing of the upcoming expansion on March 11. The invite reads "There are whispers around the Tavern…"[31]
Pictures surface of half-painted murals boldly proclaiming the new expansion and its title, and depicting what are clearly faceless ones and other Old God-related creatures.[33][34]
March 11
Hearthstone's third expansion, Whispers of the Old Gods, is announced live on the Americas Winter Championship stream, on the second anniversary of the game's full release.
Patch 4.2.0.12051 brings 9 new deck slots, as well as substantial upgrades to the Collection Manager's search function. The patch also implements the previously announced Deck Recipes and support for the Thai language.
March 16
A few days after being revealed, a special poll is opened on the official forums allowing players to vote on which text will become C'Thun's official flavor text, as seen in-game in the Collection. The poll, titled The Old God C’Thun DEMANDS flavor text, mortal!, runs from March 16 to March 20, and is presented with the introduction "The bane of contact lenses everywhere, the ancient many-eyed Old God C’Thun is great at winking, but not particularly good at describing itself. That’s where you come in! Cast your vote on what flavor text makes it into Hearthstone for the Legendary card, C’Thun!" While voting on card reveals has become common practice for new releases, this is the first time players have been able to determine actual in-game content, albeit only flavor text.
"Now I've got a tale to tell you... of the ones from long ago."
Game formats are added to the game, and the first Standard year - the Year of the Kraken - begins
June 1
The official Chinese Hearthstone site announces the first ever seasonal rewards for Arena play. Each month the players with the highest number of 12 win-runs are eligible for special prizes, including tickets to BlizzCon 2016.[36]
June 11
Hearthstone's official Brazilian Facebook account posts an image depicting an "Old Gods Travel Agency". The image features leaflets for three destinations: Icecrown Citadel, the Vale of Eternal Blossoms and the Dark Portal, with the image of each destination featuring the Old Gods' distinctive tentacles invading the area.[37] Some speculated that this could be a teaser for an upcoming adventure, or another feature.
The "Play a Friend!" quest is added, marking the first in-game reward specifically for playing with friends.
July 16
Players at a Fireside Gathering on the UCI campus in California receive a special golden invite. The invite reads,
"You are cordially invited to a most majestic, marvelous, magical event, the likes of which have never been seen before! It is our most sincere hope that you'll be able to join us!"
The invite is widely taken as referring to the upcoming revealing of the game's next adventure.
Emails are sent from the developers to the fansites and other game press containing a special invite,[39] reading,
"Greetings, my dear friend! Your valiant effort and masterful display of strategy in channeling the power of the Old Gods has won you the admiration of people across Azeroth.
We would would be honored if you would join us for a once-in-a-lifetime event that will be full of magic and celebration. We also have something very special in store for you!
Please be prompt, as we have an unforgettable adventure planned!
[Stream date and link]
Sincerely,
An old friend!"
Both the invite's text and graphic details are widely taken as confirming Karazhan as the upcoming adventure, with the visual style and celebratory tone making many think of a "magical dinner party" at the tower, and the feathers seen at the top and bottom of the invite widely assumed to represent Medivh.
"He’s got dance moves like a man possessed! …oh."
July 22
Paper versions of the email invites previously sent out are sent to members of the Chinese community, coming in decorated envelopes complete a ribbon and Hearthstone swirl wax seal. The text of the invites is largely the same, but also includes a footnote translated as "Please open at night". When opened in the dark, the invite was revealed to feature glow in the dark properties, with the embossed sections illuminated in similar colours to the email invite, but with one notable difference: the star in the top-left corner is replaced by a glowing eye, precisely matching the design shown on Arcane Intellect.[40]
The official Hearthstone Twitter account begins tweeting images of preexisting card art, modified to fit a "party" theme.
July 25
An official announcement confirms that the upcoming adventure will be revealed in a special presentation stream from China, making it the first Hearthstone content to be revealed from somewhere other than the US.[41]
An official blog announces the removal of 45 cards from the Arena, marking the first large-scale effort to balance the format separately to constructed play.[42]
September 12
The Welcome Bundle is announced, a limited-availability card pack bundle offering cards from the Classic set at a deeply discounted price.[43]
Patch 6.2.0.15181 brings unexpected card changes to five cards, moderating Ethereal Peddler's effect and removing most of the board-wide synergy previously seen in the Murloc minion type.
October 24
The official Twitter account releases what appears to be a teaser for the upcoming expansion, titled "Greetings from Gadgetzan".[45] The image contains a lengthy hidden text in exceedingly small letters, providing comprehensive disclaimers for any and all eventualities that may result due to visiting the city or receiving the goblin-made postcard.
October 25
Apparently as part of the same teaser campaign, the official Twitter account posts the first of several pages of the "The Gadgetzan Gazette" ("The city's BEST newspaper. The city's ONLY newspaper.").
"Gadgetzan, where the gangs rule the streets..."
November 2
The official Instagram account posts an image of the Gadgetzan postcard, along with a handful of pirate coins bearing the text "Absolutum Dominium".[46]
Blizzard quietly change the title of the game from Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft to simply Hearthstone. Logos on the official site are changed, and the developers ask the moderator's on the game's subreddit to update their logo to match the new title, but no press release or statement is made. The change is widely considered to mark (if somewhat belatedly) the game's shedding of its initial identity as a "spin-off" from the Warcraft games.[47][48] Yong Woo would later confirm the change was not intended to mean "anything special".[49]
November 25
The official Twitter account shares a link to a Hearthstone Murloc Yule Log video, featuring a variety of carols sung by murlocs.[50]
December 1
Mean Streets of Gadgetzan is released in the Americas region, followed by the other regions on December 2.
A Hearthstone commercial for The Murloc Winter Veil Album is released. A telephone number provided to order the album leads to an encounter with murloc line operators.
The first ever official Arena rankings are posted, listing the top 100 players in the Americas and Europe regions.
February 16
The name of the second standard year is announced: Year of the Mammoth.[51] The same announcement also introduces the new Hall of Fame card set, and a switch from the old cycle of alternating between releasing new cards in the form of Adventures or Expansions to a cycle consisting of full expansions only, albeit with optional single-player content in the form of Missions beginning with the second expansion of 2017. The announcement also includes a teaser image showcasing hints for the content planned to be released during the year.
February 23
The first ever official Wild format Ranked play standings are released, for the January season.[52]
February 27
"Now then! Are you ready? Then let's journey into Un'Goro crater!"
The first episode of Hearthstone: Mulligans, a comedy mini web-series consisting of four episodes, is released on the official Hearthstone YouTube channel.
The Midsummer Fire Festival ends and is replaced by the Ahune-themed Frost Festival, featuring festive Wow emotes and a themed Tavern Brawl in the form of Ahune's Superior Brawl. The event also includes weekly free Arena runs, and each run started during the festival automatically starts with 1 free win.
July 21
The first official Hearthstone web comic, Undeath Conquers All, is released to celebrate San Diego Comic-Con and prepare for the upcoming expansion.[55] The comic is followed by two more issues, Forest for the Weary and Freedom, on July 22 and July 23, respectively.
August 10
Hearth and Home
Knights of the Frozen Throne is released.
Hero cards, the first new card type, are released.
Hearthstone's first mission is released, featuring free Solo Adventure content tied to expansions.
"We'll make our stand right here, our choice is crystal clear! We are the beasts the monsters fear!"
"It turns out that Toki was tracking the right timeline, because the Taverns of Time event has begun!"
"Hey there! I'm Dr. Boom. I live to build things. (Bombs, mostly.) So, come work with me and we'll create all kinds of new inventions! (Bombs, mostly.)"
"This volume will show readers the art of the game in breathtaking detail."
"By earth, by air, rain and fire, the only things a real troll desires are to smash, and to mash, and to bash, and maybe mangle... here in Stranglethorn!"
The random Card back is introduced, allowing players to swap between card backs.
The "Complete My Deck" feature gets a rework, pulling real data from well-performing decks, and creating one with the strongest cards you have available.
April 9
Rise of Shadows is released.
Arena moves away from being Standard-only, and starts a regular rotation of available cards from both new and older expansions.
Win or Lose, Hearthstone's third animated short, is released.[64]
May 16
The Dalaran Heist, a new Dungeon Run-style mission, is released. This is the first paid Dungeon Run-style adventure that has more content than previous adventures and rewards.
June 3
The Rise of the Mech event begins, containing the first-ever set of major buffs for cards instead of nerfs
SN1P-SN4P is introduced into The Boomsday Project set, the first card to be added to a set far outside of its original release.
Connection performance improvements are made. Areas like the collection manager can be accessed offline, and players can reconnect to games by reopening the app instead of being redirected to the launch screen.
In an attempt to reduce sexual and violent imagery in the game, several cards receive new names and/or art, such as Secretkeeper.
Downtime for Tavern Brawls is reduced from ~2 days to 1 hour per week.
August 6
Saviors of Uldum is released.
September 17
Tombs of Terror, a new Dungeon Run-style mission is released, also containing the first appearance of Dual-class heroes.
October 8
Doom in the Tomb, a new type of event is released. For the first time, Wild cards from across Hearthstone history are temporarily added to Standard for free.
1000-win hero skins are introduced for players who have reached 1000 ranked wins on a class.
Battlegrounds, Hearthstone's first ever new multiplayer game mode is announced, starting with an early access for BlizzCon Virtual Ticket holders.
November 12
Battlegrounds enters open "beta" (can be seen as the full release of the mode, as it didn't exit beta until ~2 years later).
December 10
Descent of Dragons is released.
The Shop is redesigned to improve navigation and accessibility. Additionally, Adventures and Wild Card Packs are being added, with the option to purchase Wild Card Packs using gold.
Galakrond's AwakeningHearthstone's fifth and final Adventure is announced.[67] This time, the Adventure is tied to an expansion and being released in between two expansions, as opposed to being a standalone release.
It is revealed that on March 17, there will be a Hearthstone 2020 showcase, with developers promising "We’re going to share more than we ever have before".[68]
Weapons receive new frames to make it more distinct what class they come from.
August 6
Scholomance Academy is released.
Dual-class cards, the second type of multi-class cards are released.
September 8
Battlegrounds parties are released, allowing players to queue with more than one other player. Battlegrounds Parties will allow groups of players to queue Battlegrounds together, and it supports a full lobby for private games.
Duels, Hearthstone's second new multiplayer game mode is announced, starting with an early access for players who pre-purchase Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
Cosmetic coins are introduced, as rewards for finishing Rewards Tracks or completing set collections.
November 17
Madness at the Darkmoon Faire is released
Duels: Season One begins in "beta" (can be seen as the full release of the mode, as it is still in beta as of 2024).
The progression and rewards revamp is released.
Battlegrounds Perks are moved to a standalone purchase, separate from the Tavern Pass, which now only includes the premium Rewards Track.
December 7
After a controversy and player criticism regarding the Rewards Track, which proved it was system that granted less gold than before,[74], Blizzard announces that rewards will be made better, quests easier, and gives players a gift of 5 packs and 500 gold for logging in starting December 15.[75]
Classic format will restrict players to the original 240 cards as they were in 2014 in Patch 1.0.0.5834 with any and all balance changes since then reverted.
February 11
New statistics are revealed for Hearthstone, including that the number of active players in 2020 was 23.5 million.[77]
Mercenaries, Hearthstone's third new multiplayer game mode with RPG and roguelike elements is announced, planned for release in the first phase of the year.
After player feedback regarding planned changes in the Core set that would remove the Charge keyword from Stonetusk Boar and Bluegill Warrior, it is revealed that those changes will not be made, and instead new cards Emerald Skytalon and Redgill Razorjaw will take their place.
A new in-game faction event is announced, where players can choose to allign with the Alliance or Horde and receive a new legendary card before the expansion goes live. Players gain Honor for games played and the winning faction will receive a Diamond legendary card.
It is announced that a "Future of Warcraft" announcement will be held in the Spring, with a new Hearthstone expansion being announced on March 15 (later changed to March 17).
Duels receives its second set of new heroes, with 4 additional Explorer heroes being released.
May 5
New features are announced to be coming to Hearthstone:[88]
Golden cards will now have the option of Upgrading their normal cards into Golden versions, in addition to the original option of crafting Golden versions from scratch.
Now you can easily share deck codes through the in-game chat.
You will be able to Favorite multiple card backs, instead of just one.
May 10
Naga are added to Battlegrounds, the fifth new minion type addition.
The features announced on May 5 are released into the game.
Mini-sets can now be purhcased permanently until they leave Standard. Additionally, fully golden versions of mini-sets can be purchased.
A new feature is released, Overcapped Decks. When building a deck, you’ll be able to add up to 50 cards as you tinker, and then trim it down to 30 when you’re done narrowing down your options.
Now, there will be a dedicated section at the top of your friends list that includes last opponent, former friends, new friends, your current opponent, and more.
Player-reporting will soon be added to the in-game friends list menu. You’ll be able to report players from the recent players list (including your current opponent) or from your friends list. Grounds for reporting will include inappropriate names, inappropriate chats, and inappropriate gameplay.
July 5
A new 4-part lore story of Murder at Castle Nathria, written by Christie Golden and Brandon Easton is released.[91]
July 27
New Emotes are added to Battlegrounds, previously being restricted to the same 6 emotes.
Duels receives its third set of new heroes, with Darius Crowley being released.
New features are released:
Players can now favorite multiple heroes from the same class in the Hearthstone Collection Manager. If a deck has no specific hero assigned to it, a random hero will be used each game.
The quest rewards and free deck offered to Returning Players are no longer limited to once per account. Anyone who has been gone from the game for 120+ days will receive the Returning Player rewards, even if they've gotten them before.
Battlegrounds will now have its own progression track that grants Battlegrounds-specific rewards each season.
The new Battlegrounds Season Pass will get you access to the premium rewards on the Battlegrounds Track.
In addition to its own seasonal rewards track, Battlegrounds will be getting its own special Battlegrounds XP system. Earning Battlegrounds XP will progress you along the Battlegrounds Track towards free and premium rewards.
Runestones are announced to be replacing real money purchases for nearly every product in the Hearthstone shop.
The leaderboards for Standard, Wild, Classic, Battlegrounds, and Mercenaries will now have live updates (currently, they refresh in intervals of 5-10 minutes).
All leaderboards will also now select from Season number (like Battlegrounds currently does), instead of a month and year.
Finally, there’s no longer a limit to how many people can be shown on those leaderboards. For Standard, Wild, and Classic, this means that all Legend-rank players will be listed.
Apprentice (new player ranks) and low internal-rating players (colloquially called “MMR”) may now face up against AI opponents when playing on the ranked Standard ladder.
This will help said players have a more fun experience while learning the game. Experienced players will not face these AI opponents, and they will have no impact on MMR, leaderboards, or legend ranks.
Most players advance beyond the affected MMR range upon leaving Silver or Gold ranks.
October 27
Patch 24.6 is teased, being told to be a "big one" with a special announcement stream coming November 1.[94]
Battlegrounds Bashes are announced, a new reward structure to get cosmetic items.
November 1
Death Knight, Hearthstone's second new playable class is announced.[95]
As a special event, an entire Wild expansion is added to Standard for the first time. Knights of the Frozen Throne is playable in Standard until the launch of the next expansion.
Mercenaries receives a new Renown system and task rework.
New and returning players will now be able to borrow a selection of competitive decks for one week following their return, before choosing one to claim at the end of that Loaner Deck period.
November 29
Duels receives its fourth set of new heroes, with two Death Knight heroes being released.
Duplicate card handling is improved:
We often include specific non-disenchantable cards as part of Reward Tracks, Events, Achievements, and Shop purchases. Starting with 25.0, if you claim one of these, but already own a lower quality copy that’s disenchantable, you’ll get a popup that offers to re-roll the lower quality copy to a different card of the same rarity from that card set.
December 6
March of the Lich King and Death Knight are released.
The special Path of Arthas set is released, and new Core cards are added into the set for Death Knight, the first time new Core cards are added in the middle of a Hearthstone year.
Hearthstone's new Creator Program is announced, aimed to help Hearthstone Creators grow and get more opportunities to share their love of the game.[98]
February 7
It is announced that Mercenaries will receive its last major update in the next major patch, afterwards entering maintenance mode for the forseeable future.[99]
This is colloquially seen by players as the "end of Mercenaries".
Caverns of Time, Hearthstone's first direct-to-Wild card set is announced, as well as the largest batch of buffs to cards so far, focusing on pre-2017 cards.[110]
A new feature is released: Mass pack opening. Now you’ll be able to open up to 40 of the same type of pack at once (or up to 20 at once for Golden Packs)
November 3
At BlizzCon 2023, new catch-up card backs aimed to help new players at building their collections are announced.[114]
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Elite Tauren Chieftain is introduced
Magni Bronzebeard is revealed.
Dark Wispers.[30] Echoing a similar change prior to the announcement of Blackrock Mountain, the change is speculated to foreshadow the theme of the coming expansion.
Lady Liadrin is announced as the paladin alternate hero, available for free through the game's first Hearthstone to World of Warcraft cross-promotion.[35]
C'Thun's official flavor text, as seen in-game in the Collection. The poll, titled The Old God C’Thun DEMANDS flavor text, mortal!, runs from March 16 to March 20, and is presented with the introduction "The bane of contact lenses everywhere, the ancient many-eyed Old God C’Thun is great at winking, but not particularly good at describing itself. That’s where you come in! Cast your vote on what flavor text makes it into Hearthstone for the Legendary card, C’Thun!" While voting on card reveals has become common practice for new releases, this is the first time players have been able to determine actual in-game content, albeit only flavor text.
Ethereal Peddler's effect and removing most of the board-wide synergy previously seen in the Murloc minion type.
Marin the Fox, is usable an entire patch before the expansion launches.
SN1P-SN4P is introduced into The Boomsday Project set, the first card to be added to a set far outside of its original release.
Redgill Razorjaw will take their place.
Stealer of Souls is banned from the Wild format.
