After spending months with Murloc Holmes, I’ve become a true detective, and today I will tell you why the next Hearthstone expansion announcement should come next week. This is not just a wild guess. I’ve gathered evidence to build up this case. All of it points towards Hearthstone announcing the next expansion in less than 10 days. Join me while I present my case in court.
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Hearthstone expansion announcement and arrival
Here I am to present the evidence that indicates that Hearthstone fans might see an expansion announcement next week. Let’s go over the clues so you understand what I’m saying.
Hearthstone expansion announcement timings
The pattern revealed more than a year ago by Iksar, former Game Director, still stands and everything indicates that the 24.6 Hearthstone patch announcing the next expansion is around the corner.
According to this cycle, Hearthstone should reveal the next expansion in late October or early November, following the 3-month rule. If we look back, this pattern checks out for almost every release during 2022. I’ve even used it to accurately predict the previous mini-set. You can check the math in that article if you want to collect all the pieces.
Expansions and Hearthstone esports
During 2022, new Hearthstone content (mini-sets and expansion alike) and esports events have gone hand in hand. Two weeks before every major constructed tournament we’ve seen content releases.
Either an expansion announcement with early access to a featured card, a mini-set release or a whole expansion going live. Everything happened less than 20 days before the events, as this table shows.
Event NameDateRelated ContentRelease DateMT 1: Onyxia’s Lair02-17-2022Onyxia’s Lair Mini-Set release02-15-2022MT 2: Ruins of Alterac03-18-2022Sunken City expansion announcement 03-17-2022MT 3: Sunken City04-29-2022Sunken City expansion release04-12-2022Summer Champ06-03-2022Thrones of the Tides Mini-Set release06-01-2022MT 4: Vashj’ir06-30-2022Castle Nathria expansion announcement06-27-2022MT 5: Castle Nathria08-12-2022Castle Nathria expansion release08-02-2022Mt 6: Maw and Disorder10-07-2022Maw and Disorder Mini-Set release09-27-2022
Want to guess when the next Hearthstone esports events will be happening? Fall Seasonal Championship on October 28th and the Hearthstone World Championship on December 16th.
With these dates in mind, it would be logical that the 24.6 Hearthstone patch, with the expansion announcement, would arrive next week. Days before Fall Champs. Add a 30-day window for card reveals, and the next Hearthstone expansion should arrive on November 29th. Two weeks before Worlds.
This is not a coincidence. Abar, the Hearthstone esports product manager explained why event dates are tied to new content.
Other clues and teases
While the following may enter more into speculation and reading between the lines, I still think they qualify as hints.
The most relevant hint about the next expansion announcement came with the 24.4.3 Hearthstone patch notes. Devs usually throw some comments about the thought process behind why they implement balance changes or why they don’t touch some cards. Last patch they said the following:
“He (Renathal) is powerful and popular, but we don’t want this patch to completely shake up the meta, because we have something fun coming in Patch 24.6 and we want to see how Renathal performs in the next expansion before making changes to him.”
Dev comment on 24.4.3 patch notes
This sounds much like a new card coming as part of the Hearthstone expansion announcement. In the same way, Renathal and Okani showed up the same week of a major tournament, this could totally happen next week before the Fall Seasonal Championship.
Controversy around the inclusion of Prince Renathal in the next Hearthstone Major: “this kind of thing without any warning is to treat us like idiots.”
The next $250K Hearthstone Masters Tour is round the corner and the inclusion of the new Prince Renathal is divisive. Abar, Hearthstone Esports Product Manager responds
Renathal created a huge controversy upon arrival for this same reason. This time, however, there are only 16 players involved in the event, it is possible for them to be aware ahead of time so they can prep.
With this tweet to give it a bit of flavor, I rest my case. I will leave you to speculate if we are getting a Lich King-themed expansion with Death Knights as a class or not.
If you think this is just me being a full conspiracy theorist, stay tuned to Esports.gg for more Hearthstone news and updates to prove me wrong. See you next time, in the Tavern.
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