Blizzard's massively popular digital-only CCG is now available on Android tablets, the publisher has announced.

At this year's BlizzCon Blizzard revealed that alongside releasing the game's first official expansion, Goblins vs Gnomes, in December, the long-awaited Android release would also make the Holiday month, and today exactly that has happened.

Blizzard Entertainment invites Android™ gamers to a friendly fireside duel—Hearthstone®: Heroes of Warcraft™ is now available for Android tablet devices! Players in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand can now download the game for free on Google Play™, with the worldwide rollout on Google Play and the Amazon Appstore for Android coming in the days ahead.

Hearthstone players on Android tablets have access to all of the exciting features and content available in the Windows, Mac, and iPad® versions of the game—including the recently released first expansion, Goblins vs Gnomes™, which adds more than 120 new cards and an all-new type of minon, Mechs. Players can purchase Goblins vs Gnomes card packs in the in-game shop for gold or real-world currency, earn cards as Arena rewards, or craft them using Arcane Dust.

To celebrate the launch on Android and help new players start their collection, anyone who starts one game in any mode on their Android tablet will receive one free Classic card pack from the original Hearthstone set.

We're currently wading through the huge number of new cards from the Goblins vs Gnomes expansion for review, and will post up our thoughts once we're convinced we've got enough out of the mechanically-driven new cards for a thorough review, so stay tuned.

Blizzard has announced the very first expansion to come to free-to-play card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft: Goblins vs Gnomes.

Goblins vs Gnomes immerses Hearthstone players in an epic rivalry between goblin engineers and their gnomish counterparts. Though wildly brilliant, these pint-size tinkerers don’t always have the upper hand on the mechanical contraptions they create, and the results can be wonderfully unpredictable. The new cards coming in the expansion are filled with wild and wacky inventions as well as some faces that will be familiar to World of Warcraft and Hearthstone players.

“Goblins vs Gnomes is going to turn Hearthstone on its head,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “It introduces a ton of new cards with all-new options for decks and strategies, and we can’t wait to see all the crazy combinations players come up with.”

Coming this December to PC and iPad, Goblins vs Gnomes card packs will be winnable in the game’s Arena mode and purchasable with in-game gold or real-money at the same price as standard card packs. Specific details on launch timing will be announced in the weeks ahead.

Blizzard Entertainment's digital collectible card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft won't make its way to mobile phones until next year, the developer confirmed today, saying the iPhone and Android phone versions of the game need more time.

Hearthstone for iPhone and Android was announced at last year's BlizzCon by then-chief creative officer Rob Pardo. While the Android tablet version is still slated for a release before the end of 2014, Hearthstone fans looking for a more compact version of the game will have to wait a bit longer.

"We're also close to having Hearthstone out to our iPhone and Android phone users, but it's become clear that we need a little more time to get that version right," community manager Christina Sims wrote in a development update.

"While we have a build up and running internally, it needs a bit more work, and we don't feel like we'll be ready to share it with you until early next year. It's very important to us that the phone experience for Hearthstone is just as accessible as the tablet and PC versions. One of the biggest challenges with that is revamping the user interface so it feels intuitive and offers the same quality Hearthstone experience, but this time from the palm of your hand."

Sims says Blizzard is using the extra time to "make Hearthstone's user interface on the phone customized to feel great for the platform, rather than a port that doesn't taken into account the limitations of a smaller screen."

With the extremely successful single-player-focused Curse of Naxxramas add-on now behind them, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft developer Blizzard has revealed that the collectible card game's first expansion will further expand on the card pool, but also add new strategies and a common theme like the aforementioned add-on.

Speaking with Polygon, Hearthstone production director Jason Chayes offered some early details about the future of the game. "I think we're going to mix it up a little bit with this next release, which will be our first expansion," Chayes said. "It will have a lot more cards. We're talking about more than 100. We are going to have a central theme for how that will all fit together. That'll be the next thing coming up."

The team are also looking at how to further improve on the game's pacing, not just for seasoned veterans but also those new to the free-to-play collectible card game. "We really want to pay attention to how that is for the entirety of the player base. Does that feel like the right amount of content? Is it too little? Is it too much? We feel like this is a good starting point."

There’s no time frame for the next major content update right now. For more on Hearthstone’s future, check out the interview at Polygon.

Blizzard has very quietly just celebrated a milestone with their sleeper wide-awake hit, Hearthstone, pulling in a huge number of players globally.

While the company hasn't released anything along the lines of stuff-shirted press releases about it, they did drop a nice Tweet informing the world that Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft has cracked a mere 20 million users globally.

Well, actually that's quite a lot.

I think maybe they should have made a celebration card based on the Little Engine That Could.

Well done to the small Hearthstone team at Blizzard for making such a well-loved game, and in case you haven't checked it out yet, we recently posted up a review for the game's first single-player campaign, which you can read right here.

Following on from its second wing release last week, Blizzard has announced that the third wing for Hearthstone's Curse of Naxxramas update will be launching across the world this afternoon, along with all of its juicy rewards.

For Australian residents we'll be gaining access to the single-player expansion's second wing come 4:59PM AEST this afternoon, with New Zealand fans gaining access at 6:55PM NZST. Unlike the expansion's Arachnid Quarter, that was free to anyone who logged in within a months time, the remaining four sections will only be available for in-game gold or real-world money purchases.

Coming in the Military Quarter will be three new bosses, their unique rewards plus the class and heroic challenges. Pricing for each of the next four wings will be either a 700 gold in-game cost or real-world cost of $8.99. Blizzard will also offer three packages depending on the amount of wings you own: $18.99 AUD for those owning the first two wings and want to buy the remaining three and $12.99 AUD for those who own the first three wings and want to buy the remaining two.

Following on from the launch last week, Blizzard has announced that the second wing for Hearthstone: Curse of Naxxramas update will be launching across the world this afternoon, along with all of its juicy rewards.

For Australian residents we'll be gaining access to the single-player expansion's second wing come 4:59PM AEST this afternoon, with New Zealand fans gaining access at 6:55PM NZST. Unlike the launch of the first wing last week, the Arachnid Quarter, that was free to anyone who logged in within a months time, the remaining four sections will only be available for in-game gold or real-world money purchases.

Coming in the Plague Wing will be three new bosses, their unique rewards plus the class and heroic challenges. Pricing for each of the next four wings will be either a 700 gold in-game cost or real-world cost of $8.99. Blizzard will also offer three packages depending on the amount of wings you own: $18.99 AUD for those owning the first two wings and want to buy the remaining three and $12.99 AUD for those who own the first three wings and want to buy the remaining two.

Eager fans of Blizzard's free-to-play digital card game will be happy to hear that the first wing of the single-player Naxxramas content is now open and available to all, free of charge.

The Arachnid Quarter, the first of the Adventure’s five sinister wings, is now available — free for a limited time — to all Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft players who step into the necropolis during the Curse of Naxxramas launch event, taking place now through early September.

Curse of Naxxramas pits solo Hearthstone players against a series of iconic, necrotic bosses, each with its own unique powers and cards to command. Heroes will need to draw on all of their wits and deck-building prowess to prevail over Naxxramas’s horrors, earning a total of 30 new cards along the way that can be used in regular play — including a new Legendary card for completing each wing.

“Curse of Naxxramas introduces a whole new way to play Hearthstone,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Players of all skill levels will find plenty to challenge them within Naxxramas’s haunted corridors—and plenty of new options for their decks with the new cards we’re adding.”

Blizzard has today announced that its first major expansion for popular free-to-play digital card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft will be arriving next week.

The single-player orientated expansion Curse of Naxxramas will be opening its first "wing" come July 22nd. The wing will be available completely free to those who log in during the game's month-long launch event. Each of the next four wings will open on a weekly basis, going at a cost of $6.99 per wing or 700 in-game gold.

Curse of Naxxramas will pit players against AI-controlled bosses as they overcome the challenging nature of the original World of Warcraft raid. Overcoming these enemies will unlock 30 new cards that players can then use in the more traditional multiplayer scenario. For more on the Naxxramas pricing, check out our previous post detailing all the various way to gain access.

Blizzard has officially revealed the pricing details for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft's first expansion, Curse of Naxxramas. Initially, it may seem like a rather large price tag at $31.99 AUD for all five wings, the developer has offered a handful of ways for players to gain access to the new content.

According to the official Hearthstone blog, Naxxramas will be unleashing its deadly wings one at a time over a course of five weeks, unlike its original version in World of Warcraft. The Arachnid Quarter will come first, followed by Plague Quarter, Military Quarter, Construct Quarter, and Frostwyrm Lair.

Those wanting to save some pennies can gain access to the first wing for free during the month-long launch event. The first wing will house three bosses (Anub’Rekhan, Grand Widow Faerlina, and Maexxna), each of whom will add cards to your collection after beating them.

Pricing-wise, Naxxramas wings will go for 700 in-game gold a piece, or $8.99 AUD if you prefer the real world money method. Blizzard will also offer three packages depending on the amount of wings you own: $18.99 AUD for those owning the first two wings and want to buy the remaining three and $12.99 AUD for those who own the first three wings and want to buy the remaining two. Keep in mind that purchasing Curse of Naxxramas wings in bundles does not open or grant access to those wings faster than the one-wing-a-week schedule, but it does ensure that you’ll be able to dive into the next challenges as soon as they unlock.

Blizzard has also noted that a new Heroic Mode will be available once players have defeated all of the bosses for each wing. Players will be able to compete against exceedingly harder versions, and the chance to unlock a new card back for bragging rights.

Curse of Naxxramas, the first single-player expansion to Blizzard popular free-to-play card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, will soon be arriving in digital form come July according to community manager Arati.

Taking to the Battle.net forums, Arati revealed that while there was still a lot of bug fixing to do, things are looking good. "Just wanted to give everyone a head’s up that we are currently targeting to release Curse of Naxxramas during the month of July," he revealed. "Unfortunately, we still have a lot of implementing and bug fixing to get through, so please stay tuned!

“With that said, we are also targeting to reveal pricing details regarding Curse of Naxxramas next week on July 1st, so please keep an eye out for that.”

Hearthstone developer Blizzard has revealed a new real-life initiative to encourage players of the collectible card game to meet in the real world (yes, outside) with Fireside Gathering events scheduled to begin on April 26th.

While your typical playstyle in Hearthstone is to gather around a virtual table and fight it out mono-a-mono, Fireside Gatherings invites players to assemble around real world tables to build decks, play tournaments and otherwise delve deep into the game. These events can range in size from 5-10 people in a small group to 100+ in a huge gathering, and require absolutely no minimum skill level. Those who do participate in any of the events will unlock a special card back titled “Fireside Friends”.

The official website lists all currently advertised gatherings, though it also offers you a quick guide on how to get your own Fireside Gathering out to the public. Sadly no Australian events are currently being held, but there's always a first.

Overnight Blizzard revealed that Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft would be getting a significant update in its single-player offering with an all-new adventure mode.

Curse of Naxxramas is the title of the first adventure to hit the game and is lifted directly from Warcraft lore.

Naxxramas is a floating necropolis filled with the stuff of nightmares. In Hearthstone, the Naxxramas Adventure will have players use their deck of choice to take on a host of creepy-crawly bosses in a series of card battles representing the five different wings of Naxxramas.

Victors will earn cards along the way, leaving a trail of defeated bosses in their wake, and ultimately unlock a chest containing an all-new Legendary card at the end of each wing! Curse of Naxxramas will add a total of 30 brand-new cards to Hearthstone, which players will be able to add to their decks only by completing the Adventure. Each boss will bring its own unique abilities, minions, Hero art, and taunt-filled emotes to the playing table.

Each wing of Naxxramas will be playable over a five week period with entry payable by either in-game Gold or real-money. There's no word on when the mode will drop, but that Blizzard is even announcing should tell you it's not too far away.

You can check out the new board in-action below alongside some rather spiffy art through our game page, and if you haven't, be sure to check out our Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft review.

Well, this is a nice morning surprise. Blizzard has decided to spring news on the ANZ region that Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is now available for download on iPad.

"Hearthstone’s player base has already grown to more than 10 million accounts registered following the official Windows and Mac release, but we saw that a few people online were holding out for the iPad version,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment via press release. “Instead of calling those folks up individually, we figured we might as well let everyone know that the global iPad rollout for Hearthstone has begun, and pretty soon it’ll be available everywhere. The game is a natural fit for tablets—we encourage everyone to check it out on their couch, in their backyard, in a coffee shop... or anywhere else they take their iPads.”

There's no current word on how far away the Android and Windows tablet versions are, or the mobile release, but with the iPad version out in the wild, we're going to venture a guess as soon.

We have a review of the PC version of the game already up, but we'll take a look at the iPad version too, so keep an eye out for a platform update on the game.

Click here to directly link to the game in iTunes.

Blizzard has been in the game development scene for some time now, and with their latest title now out in the wild, its time to see just how well Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft performs in a card market already well populated by Magic The Gathering and the like.

Fans of Blizzard's well polished titles are in for treat when it comes to Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Offering a well-rounded experience with the addition of being free-to-play, Hearthstone is definitely one you won't want to be missing out on if you are a fan of card trading games. But you might want to read Kosta "Toadovsky" Andreadis' review before taking the usual high quality aspect of Blizzard games to heart, as there is always room for more polish.

It’s this level of polish and accessibility that Blizzard have infused into Hearthstone that make it a great success, no matter how you feel about card games. If Hearthstone looks too static and boring or even too simplified and limited, you’ll be hard pressed after playing the game to not want to spend more time in this wonderful off-shoot of the Warcraft universe.

Check out our full Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft review to see our thoughts on the new free-to-play title.

Blizzard has today announced that their digital card-playing free-to-play title Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is now officially out of beta and available as a full release. To sign up to the digital carboard action simply head over to the official site and follow the instructions.

As soon as you jump in you’ll challenge iconic Warcraft characters, including the ferocious Hogger, the mischievous Millhouse Manastorm, and the wise Lorewalker Cho. As you progress through these introductory missions, you’ll hone your card-slinging skills in preparation for a climactic battle against Illidan Stormrage! You are not prepared . . . for this much fun!

Once you’ve completed the introductory missions, you’ll have access to all of Hearthstone’s exciting offerings. Practice against the AI and you’ll be on your way toward unlocking all nine of the original World of Warcraft classes: Mage, Priest, Druid, Rogue, Shaman, Hunter, Paladin, Warrior, and Warlock! You can also challenge your friends to a duel, test your might against other players in ranked and casual Play mode matches, or fine-tune your mastery of deck construction for fantastic rewards in the Arena. An endless variety of decks are just waiting for you to build and play!

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is available initially on Windows and Max, though Blizzard are planning for iPad support shortly. Android device, iPhone, and Windows tablet versions are in development and will be available in the future.

Blizzard has also revealed that in celebration of Hearthstone opening its doors to the public, players can earn an aptly named World of Warcraft mount for playing the game. Simply win three games in either in “Play” or “Arena” mode to get the "Mount Up!" Hearthstone quest reward. The next time you log into World of Warcraft, the Hearthsteed will be waiting for you in the nearest mailbox. Free stuff!

As Hearthstone's open beta adventures continue to pull in any and all that even glance at its shiny cards, Blizzard has today announced that a new addition will be making its way into the card game in the form of Golden Hero Cards come the next patch.

Golden cards already exist in the game as variants to regular cards, with the appeal to them being rarity and animated art on the card's face. With the update, the game's nine heroes will also receive animations with their gold variants.

"When you hit 500 wins in Ranked Play mode with any given Hero, that particular Hero will become golden permanently," said Blizzard. Players can track their progress with any given Hero "quickly and easily on the deck selection screen in Ranked Play mode."

These new hero changes will join unlockable card back designs recently revealed by Blizzard's Facebook page, which can be attained by competing in special events and participating in ranked play. Those worried some kind of benefit will be had from the golden heroes can rest assure that these are simply aesthetic changes, with "unique animations to their portrait and Hero Power."

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is a free-to-play card battle game, and is currently in open beta allowing any and all to jump in on the action.

As has been expected since the announcement at last year's return to their annual Blizzcon event, Blizzard's free-to-play card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft has now gone into Open Beta, allowing anyone to join in on the action.

With the last big update that Blizzard expects to see now behind us, players joining in or those continuing their card-life adventures will find only small tweaks and changes during the Open Beta phase, essentially meaning that what we have now won't be changing for awhile. This also means that the team expect no more wipes to occur, so don't be afraid that your shiny Illidan will be disappearing in the next patch.

As open beta is still a beta phase, we will be closely monitoring many aspects of the game to ensure a positive play experience for everyone. Please be aware that if smoke starts curling out of our servers due to unexpectedly high demand to play Hearthstone, we may have to temporarily disable open beta account activations for a time until we’re ready to take on more players.

Currently the Open Beta is available just to North American folk (which includes us Oceanic players) however Blizzard has stated that they are rolling out access over the next few days so don't panic.

To jump into the game, simply head to the official site and download the Battle.net launcher, where you'll find access to Hearthstone automatically granted. See you in-game!

Blizzard's has announced that their currently closed beta trading card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft will be receiving its final balance update later today to a handful of cards ahead of moving into open beta.

The cards that will be impacted by the patch are Unleash the Hounds, Sylvanas Windrunner, Blood Imp, Defender of Argus, Pyroblast, Dark Iron Dwarf, Abusive Sergeant, Warsong Commander, Charge and Novice Engineer.

"Thank you so much for continuing to play, test, and give feedback on Hearthstone as the closed beta testing phase begins to draw to a close," community manager Takralus wrote on the official forum.

"We are monitoring card balance over time, and without your continued testing efforts, we wouldn’t have the necessary data we need in order to make changes to cards that may warrant them. This should be our last big set of balance changes; once we go live, we plan to make very few card changes, and only if they are absolutely necessary."

Blizzard has yet to reveal exactly when we can expect Hearthstone to go into open beta, though with the final patch arriving soon it seems the wait won't be for long. The open beta was originally scheduled for release around Christmas time last year, however that was delayed to add extra polish and squash some bugs.

Blizzard said it hoped these changes would "increase the variety of cards you will see at all levels of play" and confirmed that, as with previous updates to card values, it will be possible to disenchant expert cards affected by the changes at their original cost for a limited time after the patch.

For full patch notes including Blizzard's comments you can find them over here, and let us know in the comments below on what you think of the game so far, and of the newest update.

During BlizzCon 2013 this month, developer and publisher Blizzard revealed a number of changes and additions that would be making its way to soon-to-be open beta collectible card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Now, a new online survey has hinted at further possible additions.

One of the more prominent questions simply asked "What new features would you be excited about Blizzard adding to Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft?" A number of choices are available but here is a quick list of the more interesting ones:

Raids (cooperative play vs. a single, powerful boss)

"Observer" mode, allowing you to view live battles

Chat channels beyond the emotes

Recorded replay of your last match

Set up multiple profiles within one Hearthstone account

Other questions include looking at virtual tournaments, paid content additions and current deck interest, all of which suggest that Blizzard are preparing to be quite active with their newest IP.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is currently available as a selected closed beta, however during BlizzCon 2013 the team did reveal that an open beta will be commencing come December 2013. A release on both iOS and Android are expected sometime in the future as well.

For more on Hearthstone, make sure you check out our very fresh interview with producer Hamilton Chu on his thoughts of the collectible card game and how much of their game has changed since inception.