Ragnaros is Heating Up the Tavern

Greetings, everyone.

Last month, I committed to being more transparent with you and to proactively share changes we are making with our community, along with context for why we’re making those changes. With that in mind, I’m here to share some details about what we’re working on, starting with something coming right around the corner.

Allow me to introduce the coolest (hottest?) hero skin we’ve ever made: Ragnaros, the Firelord! Ragnaros is our first-ever Mythic skin, pushing the boundaries even further than our Legendary skins. The team went all-out with Ragnaros: his emotive 3D portrait oozes Hearthstone charm; he pops out of the frame and SMASHES your opponents with Sulfuras for his attack animation; he sprawls over your side of the board; he has explosive victory and death screens; and he’s our first-ever dual class Hero Skin, usable in both Shaman and Warrior!

Ragnaros is coming in our next major patch, Patch 30.4, bundled with 3 Shaman packs and 3 Warrior packs for $60 (USD) or 6000 Runestones. That’s one of the priciest cosmetic bundles we’ve ever done, so I wanted to talk a little about our product strategy as a whole and what it means for all Hearthstone players.

First, let me say that our main goal for Hearthstone is that it remains a game that is easy to pick up and play. That means removing barriers that would prevent players from joining us all in the Tavern, including cost barriers. The core game is about collecting cards and winning on ladder, and that’s where we’ve continuously made the game more approachable for our players. You’ve seen our work in this area through features like catch-up packs, improved loaner decks, the recently revamped new- and returning-player experience, and so much more, going all the way back to changes like duplicate protection and our ladder revamps. These are the types of improvements that keep it so that players can jump into Hearthstone without spending anything, build up a good collection, and climb up the ladder.

But Hearthstone is a game with all kinds of different players, and we’re also working to make sure every type of player has something that delights them in the Tavern.

What we've learned over time is there are many Hearthstone players who really care about cosmetics. These are players who have shown a lot of excitement for cosmetics with a higher quality bar–like the C’Thun hero skin and our revamped Signature cards. Part of the draw for these players is awesome visuals and effects, and being delighted by the additional work and artistry that goes into making something at that high bar. Though we know not every player falls in that category, we do want to continue serving those players with the most awesome cosmetics we can.

Premier cosmetics like Ragnaros and future Mythic Hero Skins will let us deliver an awesome experience to players who want the ultimate flair–and let me tell you, Ragnaros is awesome. And what’s great about cosmetics is that they’re never mandatory to play and enjoy the game; instead, they help us invest more into the offerings and systems within Hearthstone.

Part of our strategy to keep these types of ultra-premium cosmetics special is that we don’t seek to do too many of them. We do plan to continue to regularly offer options across a range of price points, including free grants and items earned through play. One of my favorite experiences when I’m playing Hearthstone is when I see an older card back or skin on ladder that I haven’t seen in awhile and I get to rediscover how beautiful or funny they are. I love seeing the personality of my opponents in that way and I hope you do, too, whether you want to spend money on cosmetics or not. In this same patch we’ll have a free event that gives a card back, a cosmetic coin, and two different hero skins. This is also the patch where all Wild game boards will be in rotation for the Standard format–and we have plans for a “Favorite Boards” feature to come later down the line, too.

We have a lot of other exciting irons in the fire, too. We’re currently deep into work on the major Arena update we have planned for early next year. And, for our core Standard players, we have some fun updates ahead of us with the build up to our next expansion, including something we’ve never done before!

Finally, I haven’t forgotten that I teased pets in my last post. Those are on-track for next year, so I’ll probably have more to share on that in early 2025.

See you in the Tavern,