Blizzard to announce new Hearthstone expansion on March 11

By Danny Cowan March 7, 2016

hearthstone expansion to be revealed march 11 blizzard card game finals

Publisher Blizzard will announce the next major expansion for its mobile and PC collectible card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft on March 11, according to a recent teaser sent to top players via postal mail.

“There are whispers around the Tavern,” the teaser reads. “Come listen closely and discover the next Hearthstone expansion at a special live-streamed event!”

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The note concludes with the address for Blizzard’s official Hearthstone Twitch channel, and advises players to tune in on March 11 at 10:00 a.m. PST to get a first glimpse at the game’s forthcoming update.

Hearthstone expansions are gameplay-overhauling events that introduce dozens of new collectible cards, requiring veteran players to come to grips with an array of balance tweaks and new deck-building possibilities.

The first Hearthstone expansion, “Goblins vs. Gnomes,” added 143 new cards to the game’s catalog in December of 2014. The update also marked the launch of a spectator mode that allowed players to watch in-progress online battles during downtime between matches.

“The Grand Tournament,” Hearthstone‘s second major expansion, added a collection of more than 130 new cards to the base game in August last year. The Grand Tournament further expanded gameplay possibilities with a new Joust mechanic, along with a new keyword that altered how Hero Power is used.

While Blizzard has not yet revealed its plans for Hearthstone‘s forthcoming expansion, players can likely expect several new cards and a handful of tweaked gameplay mechanics to be announced on March 11.

Originally released for PC platforms in 2014, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft saw ports for Apple’s iPad and Android tablets shortly afterward. A mid-2015 update added compatibility for iOS and Android smartphones, introducing Blizzard’s free-to-play game to a large chunk of the casual gaming market. As of November 2015, Hearthstone boasts more than 40 million active player accounts.

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