Players in over a dozen countries across the globe woke up to find Hearthstone had raised its prices overnight. This price hike came alongside the release of Hearthstone’s Return to Naxxramas Mini-Set.Less than 24 hours before Hearthstone Patch 25.4 was released, it announced Runestone prices would increase for the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Georgia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. With the patch now released, the price for Hearthstone products has been adjusted globally.The Hearthstone price hike hit different countries more severely than others. According to reports from international fans, Runestone prices have doubled, tripled, or even quintupled in some countries. Argentinian Hearthstone Caster and esports reporter Rane claims that with the new price, a Mega Bundle will now cost local players half a month’s salary based on the minimum wage of the country.
It appears these countries have had the price of Hearthstone Runestones adjusted to be the equivalent of $5 when converted to their local currencies. However, this price adjustment does not take into consideration the currencies' buying power, nor the state of the economies in each country. With dramatically different costs of living, this price increase may mean some players will be unable to afford to purchase Hearthstone products.
As one might expect, many Hearthstone players are not happy with this sudden price hike. Prices for Hearthstone products have increased in the past, but these changes usually came with at least a week of warning. Many players also accused Blizzard of being tone-deaf by increasing Hearthstone prices in Turkey in light of the recent catastrophic earthquake, and in Ukraine, which is still in the midst of a war with Russia.
Hearthstone fans have had an unfortunate amount of bad news lately. It lost its Chinese market along with the rest of Blizzard, only for Hearthstone’s esports program to suffer a substantial downscale for 2023. Its newest Mercenaries mode also entered maintenance mode in the latest patch, leading many fans to worry about the game’s health. With the drastic increase in price for Hearthstone in many countries alongside global recessions, the digital TCG may see its profits take a hit.
Luckily, Hearthstone players in the affected countries should be able to pick up the Return to Naxxramas Mini-Set without emptying their wallets. The 38-card Mini-Set can still be purchased with Gold–and for the first time ever, even the Golden version can be bought with in-game currency. Though some of these players may have to become Free-to-Play, they can at least still enjoy the digital Warcraft TCG for now.
Hearthstone is available now for Mobile and PC.