Hearthstone ‘close’ to release on iPhone, Android

Android and iPhone users have been waiting nearly a year for the chance to play Blizzard Entertainment’s smash-hit digital card game Hearthstone on their phones. Now, it looks like that wait won’t be too much longer, and the games are being delayed for the right reasons, according to the developer. 

The developer published an update Tuesday on the status of the game on various mobile platforms. Since the game’s intiial release on PC and OS X, Blizzard has added iPad and Windows 8 touchscreen support. Here’s what’s next: 

We’re taking things one step at a time and we’ve got our sights set on a release for Android tablets, our next new platform, before the end of the year; we’ve just got a few more mana crystals to polish and some Angry Chickens to chase down.”

Meanwhile, versions of the game for iPhones and Androids are being delayed until next year, because they’d “rather take 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 take into account the limitations of a smaller screen.”

The Hearthstone esports scene has been growing exponentially this year, with it’s first expansion releasing alongside news that it has surpassed every other Blizzard title in terms of userbase. The World Esports Championship handed out over $60,000 to top players of the game certainly helped as well. Next month, the winner at Blizzcon will take home $100,000.

With over 20 million players and 2 billion hours played, it’s clear that Hearthstone isn’t going anywhere. And as they add more and more ways to access the game, the question will eventually turn from “Do you play?” to “How do you play?”