After the popularity of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's Gwent, it seems like almost every big RPG needs to replicate it. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor featured Holotactics, Horizon Forbidden West let players play Machine Strike, and even Assassin's Creed: Valhalla introduced Orlog. These types of mini-games seem to be cropping up everywhere, but Blizzard has yet to introduce the concept to the popular World of Warcraft. That game already has the perfect framework for a Gwent-like minigame, Blizzard just has to finally realize that potential.
There are a ton of things to do in World of Warcraft, and Blizzard is constantly adding even more engaging pieces of content for players to enjoy. However, between those bits of content, there seems to be a lot of downtime. Players will spend countless hours sitting and waiting around for something to happen, and they do not really have a minigame to turn to. That is where a game like Gwent would come into play, and World of Warcraft's version could come in the form of the very popular Hearthstone.
Hearthstone Would Fit Perfectly in World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft may have Pet Battles, numerous world events, countless raids and dungeons, and a world filled with content to explore, but it does not have its own version of Gwent. As players adventure through Azeroth, they are not able to engage in any sort of card game to kill some time. They have nowhere to turn to when they sit in long queues, wait for things to spawn, or when they are just hanging out in one of the many cities. There seems to be no type of content like that, but Hearthstone could change all that.
Hearthstone was originally the first major spin-off of World of Warcraft. It took advantage of the deck builder craze and put a card game spin on Warcraft characters. It seems to have paid off immensely for the studio and is still one of the most popular trading card games on the market right now. Blizzard has added so much content to the game through countless updates and has even branched out to other franchises like Diablo. While it may be its own standalone game, it may also be time for it to return to its Warcraft roots for a massive new crossover.
When players are waiting in queues to play World of Warcraft's many activities, they should be able to boot up a game of Hearthstone. While they could just open it on their phone, Blizzard should let them actually boot up a game inside World of Warcraft. It could open a new window displaying the Hearthstone match, and players could challenge other players whenever they wanted. They could also challenge all sorts of elite NPCs inside the world's many inns and could even earn new cards as they traversed Azeroth. It may take a bit of work to add, but it could be a fantastic way to spend more leisurely time in-game.
World of Warcraft is filled with references to Hearthstone, and now it just needs to go all the way. Various NPCs littering the world can be seen playing the game, players can add a Hearthstone Board and card set to their toy collection, and there are even questlines involving an actual Hearthstone match or various Hearthstone characters. It seems like it is an actual canon part of Azeroth, and Blizzard should finally let fans actually play it, too. It could be a great treat for fans of the franchise, and its introduction could even rival that of Gwent itself.
World of Warcraft is available now on PC.