Hearthstone VR was prototyped by Blizzard

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But you'll probably never get to see it.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Hearthstone's tavern seems impossibly cosy and welcoming, the perfect place for a friendly card battle, but our eyes are always fixed on the board. A VR version that plonks you by the bar and lets you do a bit more than just play cards sounds very tempting, and apparently Blizzard concurs, to the extent that it developed a Hearthstone VR prototype. 

Chatting to PowerUp, lead effects artist Hadidjah Chamberlin mentioned that a pair of developers had created the prototype at an internal Blizzard event, but the chances of any of us ever getting to take it for a spin are extremely slim. 

"They actually prototyped a VR version of Hearthstone during that time," Chamberlin said. "You could walk around the tavern and sit down to play a game with someone." It didn't go much further, however. "They only had two weeks, so they only got as far [allowing you to] throw cards at the table and you could flip the table over!"

As cathartic as it would feel after a shitty game, I suspect that flipping tables would be the first thing to go if Hearthstone ever did get a proper VR spin-off. I'd never dream of doing something like that, of course, and all the times I've knocked over my opponent's models in Warhammer have been entirely accidental. I'm just clumsy. 

Blizzard doesn't appear to have any plans to make it a reality right now. Principle narrative designer Dave Kosak said it had been discussed, but he reckons players would rather keep things simple, like using a tablet. It does seem like the kind of thing that would be a cool novelty that people would play for a week before going back to classic Hearthstone. 

Fraser Brown
Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.