Blizzard reveals details of first ‘Hearthstone’ expansion

Blizzard has finally revealed the pricing and release model for their upcoming expansion to its red-hot collectible card game, Hearthstone.

The Curse of Naxxramas expansion will introduce the first batch of new cards to the game since its release in March. These new cards can be won by defeating single-player bosses in each of the five chapters, or wings, that will make up the expansion.

A new style will be available to players if they can best each of the boss’ upgraded versions in the game’s heroic mode, which can be unlocked through defeating the normal versions of each respective boss character.

But the wings will not all be free, nor will they be released simultaneously.

The first chapter will be made freely available to all Hearthstone players during the expansion’s month-long launch event, as will the cards that can potentially be won from its bosses. But after giving players this taste, Blizzard will begin asking for more than just a willingness to try out the latest addition to their popular game.

Each of the four further wings will be delivered at a cost of $6.99, which is a few dollars less than the cost of purchasing 10 card packs. Blizzard will incentivize players to commit to more than one wing at a time by offering a package discount. Multiple wings can be bundled together at individual prices of $4.99, meaning that players planning on purchasing each of the five wings would pay a price of $24.99 rather than $34.95.

Getting access to the first wing while it’s still free would bring the overall cost of the remaining new content down to $19.99, the same cost as a purchase of 15 card packs. The developer did make a point of noting that purchasing unreleased wings in advance would not give players access to them any earlier.

Of course, Blizzard will also be offering players the opportunity to unlock the content by spending the in-game currency of gold.

Each wing is set to cost 700 gold, the equivalent of seven card packs or nearly five rounds of arena play. But without the potential for bundling when paying with gold, there’s no way to lower the cost of 3500 gold that would be required to purchase all five wings, or the 2800 necessary to purchase the remaining four for players who make a point of acquiring the first wing at no cost.

Curse of Naxxramas is set to begin rolling out later this month.