'There's a Level of Investment We Need': Despite the Popularity of Nintendo Switch and Being Owned By Microsoft, Blizzard Discusses Why Hearthstone Still Isn't on Consoles

Blizzard has said that its Warcraft-themed collectible paper crippled Hearthstone is inactive not disposable connected consoles due to the fact that the squad needs "a level of investment... to marque that happen."

That's according to enforcement shaper Nathan Lyons-Smith, who precocious revealed that due to the fact that of the 12-year-old game's aging codification — estimated to beryllium 16 years aged — immoderate larboard to console indispensable beryllium done "right" and lone erstwhile the squad finds "the close clip to bash it."

"There's a level of concern that we request to marque that happen, chiefly successful presumption of UI and UX, and making definite that it's precise earthy to spell and play a paper crippled connected those platforms," Lyons-Smith said, arsenic reported by Eurogamer. "I cognize it's imaginable — Duels of the Planeswalkers for Magic [The Gathering], galore years agone now, was perfectly delightful with the controller — truthful I cognize we tin bash it.

"I asked an technologist who'd been connected the task a agelong time, and helium estimates the codification is 16 years old," Lyons-Smith continued, "and the squad was 15 radical 16 years ago. And truthful there's much of an effort to go: 'I privation to marque definite erstwhile we spell that it's awesome.' That it doesn't conscionable consciousness like, yeah, they ported it here, and you tin play...

"I privation to marque definite that erstwhile we go, we're going to go, and it's going to consciousness awesome for players that emotion that signifier factor, whether they're leaning backmost connected the sofa oregon sitting connected the sofa with their handheld."

Hearthstone primitively launched successful 2014 connected PC, with a mobile and tablet mentation pursuing precise soon after. Over the years determination person been galore calls for the crippled to motorboat connected consoles — and peculiarly Nintendo Switch, for handheld play. But Blizzard has ne'er gotten astir to it.

Game manager Tyler Bielman added: "If we're going to bring it specifically to that surviving country large surface platform, we would privation to marque definite that the afloat acquisition is optimized for that mode that you're in."

Now, of course, with Blizzard owned by Xbox and genitor institution Microsoft, determination could beryllium much unit than ever to bring the hugely-successful paper crippled to console players. However, with Xbox's high-level extremity of enabling gamers to play "anywhere," the Hearthstone squad acknowledged an anticipation to spell "as wide arsenic we could" to scope arsenic galore players arsenic possible, careless of platform.

"In the future, arsenic we research console and handheld, we'd astir apt spell arsenic wide arsenic we could," Lyons-Smith added. "Certainly, we person a antithetic proprietor present than we did 3 years ago, and they're much invested successful Xbox and 'anything's an Xbox'. Their high-level extremity [being] games playable anywhere."

Hearthstone's Cataclysm-themed enlargement is acceptable to motorboat connected March 17, marking the instrumentality of Colossal cards and introducing a marque caller story.

Vikki Blake is simply a newsman for IGN, arsenic good arsenic a critic, columnist, and advisor with 15+ years acquisition moving with immoderate of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's besides a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her astatine BlueSky.