Blizzard's New Auto-Battler HEARTHSTONE: BATTLEGROUNDS Enters Open Beta

Hearthstone: Battlegrounds, the new auto-battling game mode in Blizzard's free-to-play strategy card game, has entered open beta and is now available for all players.

Announced at BlizzCon earlier this month, Hearthstone: Battlegrounds is Blizzard's spin on the growing auto-battler genre. It keeps the general look and feel of Hearthstone but applies some new mechanics to create a fresh, strategic 8-player experience.

At the start of each Hearthstone: Battlegrounds match, you will select a Hero with a unique power to build your deck around. Mechanics are similar to that of other auto-battlers in that you recruit champions, level them up, and strategically arrange them on the board. The only major difference is the way in which Hearthstone: Battlegrounds presents itself. Rather than a 3D board, minions are place in a single line and attack in order from left to right (the enemy attacked is completely random unless your opponent is a Taunt Minion). 

Hearthstone: Battlegrounds is an entirely separate mode within the game and has its own ranking system. Placing in the top four of a match will typically increase your skill rating, while ending in the bottom four will lower it. 

Welcome to Hearthstone: Battlegrounds, the brand-new auto-battling game mode that introduces a fresh, strategic, 8-player experience to Hearthstone. In Battlegrounds, you’ll take on the role of a familiar Hero straight out of Hearthstone history, craft a powerful board of recruited Minions, and face-off in an action-packed series of duels until a single winner is crowned!

While Hearthstone: Battlegrounds is completely free for everyone, players who have acquired the most recent Hearthstone expansion receive access to some exclusive bonus Battlegrounds content, including detailed stats regarding your performance, the ability to choose from three Heroes at the start of a match instead of two, and unique Battlegrounds Emotes.