Blizzard once prototyped a version of Hearthstone in VR

Hearthstone has been a smash hit on both PC and mobile devices since it was released, but Blizzard has been coy about releasing it on other platforms since.

While the game might not work out the best on consoles, virtual reality seems like it’d be a natural fit, and we now know that Blizzard agrees—to an extent.

While talking with principle narrative designer Dave Kosak and lead effects artist Hadidjah Chamberlain about Galakrond’s Awakening, PowerUp’s Leo Stevenson asked about the potential for VR. And the developers confirmed that it had been worked on at some point.

While Kosak said that the idea was “pretty cool,” he ultimately believed that players would prefer swiping their finger on a tablet over a VR environment. Chamberlain went into much more detail.

“They actually prototyped a VR version of Hearthstone during that time,” Chamberlain said. “You could walk around The Tavern and sit down to play a game with someone. They only had two weeks, so they only got as far [allowing you to] throw cards at the table and you could flip the table over.”

Doesn’t it sound awesome to be able to walk into the Tavern, look around, see the fully immersive environment, and then sit down at a table and matchmake a game with someone else in VR and see them across from you?

Imagine vibrantly slapping down a huge card that turns the tide of the game or then flipping the table when you lose. It sounds too good to be true, and for now, it is.

There’s always hope that Blizzard could revisit this idea for Hearthstone VR. But for now, all we have is dreams and the notion that the developer has at least thought about it once before.