Hearthstone Blackrock Mountain Release Date Announced

Hearthstone's third expansion pack Blackrock Mountain is almost here. Blizzard revealed today that the first wing of the expansion, Blackrock Depths, will go live in a matter of days.

Blackrock Mountain will debut on PC, Mac, and mobile devices on April 2nd in the Americas region. Southeast Asia and Oceania will receive the expansion on that day as well. Europe, Korea, Taiwan and China will have to wait until April 3rd.

Like Hearthstone's previous expansion Curse of Naxxramas, Blackrock is a single-player adventure. Each wing of the dungeon features a set of bosses with unique powers. You'll have to adapt your strategy - and probably your deck - to emerge victorious. By defeating each boss, you'll unlock new cards for your collection. Beating the last boss in each wing will unlock a Legendary card.

"Blackrock Mountain introduces 31 new cards that are too hot to handle, all obtained by emerging victorious in epic battles against some of the mountain’s most iconic villains," Blizzard says of their expansion. "Throughout the course of this Adventure, you’ll harness the power of some of Azeroth’s mightiest denizens and unlock powerful new synergies through a whole flight of Dragon-type minion cards. You’ll also get an all-new game board, new music, and a host of legendary encounters."

Once you've beaten a wing, you can then try it on Heroic mode. In Heroic mode, the difficulty has been ramped up considerably. If Naxxramas was any indication, you'll have to complete the Heroic mode for the chance to make golden versions of the new cards.

In a change from Naxxramas, there will be more class cards in this expansion. According to Hearthstone designer Ben Brode, each class will get one Rare and one Common card:

Blackrock Mountain's five wings will be released across five weeks. Each wing will cost 700 Gold or $6.99. You can also purchase several wings at once for a discount. The bulk price is reduced if you already own any of the wings:

• All 5 Wings: $24.99
• Remaining 4 :$19.99
• Remaining 3 :$14.99
• Remaining 2 :$9.99
• Individual wings :$6.99

Blizzard won't be giving players a free taste of the expansion. Although Curse of Naxxramas's first wing was available at no charge for a limited time, the Blackrock Depths mountain of BRM will cost you money from day one.

Blackrock Mountain is available for pre-purchase now, though you'll need to pre-order all wings and pay cash (not gold). If you do so, you'll unlock the Molten Core card back for your collection. This pre-purchase will be available until the first wing is released.