Blizzard is sunsetting Hearthstone Mercenaries’ development after announcing its last batch of content updates for the game mode.
Today, Hearthstone announced Mercenaries would not get further regular content updates. In a blog post titled "Mercenaries Gets a Mythic Update", Blizzard disclosed the game mode would only receive "bug fixes and periodic balance changes as needed" after the upcoming 25.4 patch.
"Mercenaries will continue to get support for bug fixes and periodic balance changes as needed, but no further regular content updates. With the new additions in this patch, we hope that Mercenaries will be a fun, fulfilling mode for players."
RIP Hearthstone Mercenaries
Hearthstone launched Mercenaries in October 2021. Promised for 2020, and reannounced on Blizzcon 2021, Hearthstone Mercenaries didn't start on the right foot. Furthermore, the official Mercenaries announcement on August 2021 left the community more confused than excited.
Many prominent Hearthstone community members argued, with good reason, that the Mercenaries announcement lacked any actual gameplay and explanation. On top of that, the company's focus was on promoting expensive pre-orders instead of letting people know what the game was about.
Despite the initial hype during its release, Mercenaries never lived to what everyone, including the Hearthstone team, expected the game to be. The excess coin problem and lack of an end game were two of the most concerning topics for the players interested in the game.
It took a year for the company to provide a solution to the game's economy. Today, less than 18 months after its release, Mercenaries is finally getting its endgame, literally. The game will be set on support-only mode after the next patch, much like what happened to Heroes of the Storm some time ago.
Hearthstone Mercenaries Mythic Boss Rush end-game
The final content update for Hearthstone Mercenaries includes a new Mythic Boss Rush end-game system. This new PVE content aims to offer replayability including randomized elements to compensate for the lack of further updates.
"Mythic Boss Rush is weekly content, with a new Boss Rush unlocking every day throughout the week until a reset at the end of the week. Each Boss Rush is like a Bounty with 3 Bounty Boss fights in a row, leading to a final Boss that is two Bounty Bosses at the same time!"
The mode offers you to upgrade your Mercenaries using Renown -Hearthstone's solution to the excess coin problem. However, these upgrades don't carry over to other PVE or PVP modes.
Other content coming with the 25.4 patch
Alongside this end-game system, Hearthstone Mercenaries is receiving its last party of visitors to the villa. Six more characters will join the game when the 25.4 Hearthstone patch goes live.
Moreover, as a final adaptation to the current Dual-Type trend Hearthstone is witnessing, the game mode will also see "Dual-Type Mercenaries". As a final QoL improvement, the game will also show which Faction each character belongs to, a much-awaited feature by most players.
Farewell
Being a Hearthstone fan, seeing Mercenaries' path wasn't something pleasing. Watching a game mode fail is a sad moment for players and developers as well. Blizzard ended the blog post with a thank you message to its player base to lighten the mood.
"To everybody who has ever chased a Bounty or gathered around the Campfire, we thank you for making this chapter in Hearthstone’s history special, and we hope you’ll enjoy everything Mercenaries has to offer in 25.4. See you in the Tavern!"
I assume that this announcement came before the 25.4 patch notes for it not to taint and drag the attention away from the next Hearthstone mini-set. That's all for now, but stay tuned to Esports.gg for more Hearthstone-related news and updates.