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