After the "merger" between Blizzard and NetEase, games under the Blizzard series are gradually returning to the Chinese server. On September 25th, following World of Warcraft, the "cash cow" of Blizzard series games, the card game "Hearthstone Legend", officially returned to the Chinese server. At 7:26 am, a reporter from Beike Finance of the New Beijing News received a notification from Blizzard's game customer service stating that the "Chinese server has officially opened".
Hearthstone "is the most successful mobile game operated by Blizzard (the game has both a mobile game client and a PC game client). It was included in the electronic sports category of the Hangzhou Asian Games in November 2021, but was later cancelled due to Blizzard's failure to renew the contract with NetEase. The "breakup" between Blizzard and NetEase has also led to the long-term inability of domestic players of Hearthstone to play on the Chinese server. Due to the regular release of new cards in Hearthstone, players often find it difficult to keep up with the new environment after the game is "out of stock", which has resulted in the loss of a group of players.
In order to recover lost players, Blizzard officials have stated that they will provide compensation to players. For example, in the return of Hearthstone, the official stated that logging in will give away all cards missed in 2023, including gold cards. In addition, the official has released patch 30.4.2, which brings back the legendary mission chain and activities for the Chinese server, updates on borrowing deck cards, updates on reward routes, and the "Return to Hotel" Hearthstone Pass.
During the year and a half when the Chinese version of Hearthstone was suspended, many Hearthstone hosts in China also switched careers due to the decline in popularity, but there were also those who continued to "stick to it". For example, during the previous suspension of the Chinese version, Shell Finance reporters interviewed veteran Hearthstone player and game host Androni.
Regarding the return of Hearthstone, Androni told reporters that she hopes all Hearthstone enthusiasts and war chess players can return to Hearthstone. "I personally will spend one million yuan to purchase a pass for players who do not have privileges, in order to provide all players with tavern privileges to the greatest extent possible. As a 'Hearthstone', I hope Hearthstone can always be better. I don't want to change games. It has been over a decade, and I want to play for another twenty years
For the return of Hearthstone, a veteran player of Blizzard Games told reporters that after a year and a half of "hiatus", they may no longer be able to adapt to the current gaming environment; But there are also players who have been "switching" to the Asian server for a long time, saying that they will definitely return to the Chinese server. Although they are hesitant about whether the game can restore its previous popularity, they say that in the past year and a half, there has not been a card game of the same type that can replace the position of Hearthstone in China.