Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is only a year old (not counting the extended beta) and Blizzard has already delivered the core game, a Naxxramas single-player adventure, and a Goblins Vs. Gnomes card expansion. The digital card game's community continues to grow and the game's competitive scene makes sure that the title is never far from the top trending games list on Twitch. Although the latest expansion pack is only a few months old, some uncovered files reveal that Blizzard is already laying the ground work for the next big card-based raid.
Thanks to some information datamined by Hearthpwn from the latest Blizzard server patch, we have some clues about Hearthstone's upcoming content. Specifically, the datamined information details three new cosmetic card backs that are going to be introduced to the game. There were no images included in the files, but the descriptions give enough clues to put us on the right track.
The card back that hints at a new expansion is labeled as Molten Core. If you've played WoW in the last ten years, you're probably aware that this is an iconic raid from the vanilla days, that was also revisited for the 10th anniversary celebrations. The Molten Core card back is tagged as a reward for a license detection associated with the "purchase of brm presale." Anyone familiar with WoW lingo, likely recognizes BRM as shorthand for Blackrock Mountains, the home of Molten Core.
No other hints about an expansion are mentioned and at this point there isn't enough information to tell whether it would be a single-player experience or another expansion of cards. The fact that it is named after a raid, like Naxxramas, may give some gamers the feeling that it is going to be another campaign-style expansion. Although new cards would definitely be more exciting to the competitive scene, there's no denying that another campaign with multiple wings to purchase like Naxx would bring in plenty of revenue for the game and appeal to the more casual scene.
A second card back was called Ragnaros, who is the final boss in the traditional Molten Core raid. Ragnaros already exists in Hearthstone as a playable card, so this cosmetic back may feature that art and be a reward for players achieving a certain rank during an upcoming Ranked season.
The final spoiled card back is also triggered by a license detection and is called the Golden Celebration. The description doesn't offer many hints and just explains that the back is a "golden celebration card back." Some fans are developing theories about how to earn this card back, but at this point we don't have enough information to make an informed guess.
Blizzard will be present at PAX East in just a few weeks, so perhaps the developer will offer some Molten Core-themed Hearthstone updates while on stage at the gathering. If not, there are still plenty of Goblins Vs. Gnomes packs for players to open and stay busy with until the next expansion is officially announced.
Would you prefer Hearthstone's next expansion be a campaign or another series of new cards? Let us know in the comments.
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is currently available on Android and iOS tablets, and PC. It arrives on Android and iOS phones later in 2015.
Source: Hearthpwn