Hearthstone Mercenaries, the all-new free-to-play game mode for Blizzard’s smash-hit digital card game Hearthstone, is live today, offering players a whole new way to play in its vibrant universe.

Combining the depth of tactical RPG-style combat with engrossing and rewarding long-term progression, Mercenaries puts the focus on Hearthstone’s iconic characters, encouraging players to collect, upgrade, and equip their favourite heroes and villains, and call their shots in epic high-stakes battles.

In Mercenaries, players will assemble Parties of six heroes from among their roster and set out to complete single-player Bounties; a randomly generated series of battles that culminate in a bout with powerful Bounty Bosses. Every hero on the team will gain experience after each successful battle, increasing in power and gaining access to new abilities as they level up. Upon completing a full Bounty, players will earn a cache of treasure that includes Mercenary Coins, which they can use to craft additional heroes or upgrade ones they already own.

The roster of Mercenary heroes; which includes over 50 at launch, was designed to encourage players to get creative when building teams, with countless powerful synergies for players to discover. Players can also bring their most formidable teams to the Fighting Pit, where they can square up against other players and earn experience, achievements, and other rewards.

Blizzard Entertainment co-leader Mike Ybarra said:

“Mercenaries provides an experience that feels completely new, but embodies the fundamental spirit of Hearthstone. The team has opened up a whole new chapter for Hearthstone that captures its unique spirit, with a fresh mode full of strategic depth. I can’t wait to see the strategies our players will unleash on the world.”

Players who start their journey will earn their first eight Mercenary heroes just for completing the prologue and introductory missions. All other Mercenaries can be obtained from simply playing the campaign or via other in-game rewards.

Starting today, players can also buy Mercenaries packs for 100 in-game gold each, or purchase pack bundles of different sizes from the Blizzard Shop, starting at US$2.99 for two packs. Mercenaries packs contain five Mercenaries items, which can include Mercenary Cards, Mercenary Portraits, or Mercenary Coins, which can be used to craft or upgrade Mercenaries. Each Mercenaries pack contains at least one Rare or better Mercenary Card.

Check out the gameplay trailer below: