We hope you’ve been having fun testing out the latest beta patch for Hearthstone—this update brought with it a bunch of bug fixes, some card changes, and the new Ranked Play system. Some of these updates were significant code changes, so we expect that some things will break, and we will also need your help to identify what’s still in need of fine-tuning. One other thing to mention is that we’ve been making great progress on improving server stability, but there are still a few things that have come up that we want to fix before we leave the closed beta phase.

With all of that said, we believe the right thing to do for the game is to not rush it out into open beta, but to instead hold onto it a little longer to make sure it’s ready for wider testing. At BlizzCon, we mentioned that we hoped to get the game into a state where it’s ready for open beta this month, but we’re just not quite there yet. The development team has been working hard to get this out before the end of the year, but our highest priority is that Hearthstone has an awesome launch when all gates are lifted and everyone can download it and play at the same time.

We’re close to the open beta—very close. And to enter this final part of our beta phase, we need your help. Keep trying out new decks, reporting bugs, and giving your feedback on our forums. That’s the best way you can help the team get Hearthstone into everyone’s hands as soon as possible.

We have some other news to share too. As of today, we have sent beta invites to everyone who opted in to the Hearthstone closed beta test prior to Monday, December 16. If you opted in before that date and have not yet received an invite email, check your spam folders or different email tabs to see if you invite may have ended up in an unexpected location. If you still can’t find your Hearthstone beta invite, don’t worry! We’re putting together a list of all Battle.net accounts that opted in to the Hearthstone beta test and did not claim their beta key. These accounts will be flagged for beta access within the first few weeks of January.

Opt-ins for the closed beta test will end on January 7; we plan to invite everyone who opts in by that date to the closed beta test at some point before the open beta begins. So keep playing, testing, and amassing your Hearthstone collection, as we do not plan on performing another card data wipe.

Thanks for your patience and enthusiasm. Hearthstone would not be as far along as it is without your helpful feedback. Please continue to let us know what you like and what you think needs a little more work.

And if you haven’t opted in to the Hearthstone closed beta test, you can do so here.

Jason Chayes
Production Director