When news broke this week of a $70 billion deal to acquire the company through Microsoft, gamers and the press were stunned. Among the many concerns about ongoing harassment and abuse, there’s also the conjecture about what the future holds for dozens of game franchises and studios newly under the Xbox umbrella. Card game fans are worried they’re going to learn about Microsoft making Hearthstone an Xbox exclusive. Here’s what we know.
Will Hearthstone become an Xbox Exclusive?
While plans could be being made in the background to port it to Game Pass, other moves just don’t make sense economically. Hearthstone being made an Xbox exclusive just doesn’t make any sense. The game already has a huge following on mobile devices and PC, and while Windows is a good fit for the card game, Xbox just doesn’t have the market saturation that PC does.
There have been rumblings from fans desiring a port to the Switch for years, and no plans have been announced so far. It seems unlikely that the userbase will get the bad news of Hearthstone being an Xbox exclusive anytime soon. It just doesn’t make any sense. Some games do make more sense being brought to Xbox and Game Pass, like Diablo.
it’s also worth noting that the deal isn’t even completed yet. The merger is not planned to be finished until later in 2023, pending regulatory approval by the US government. The investors also have to sign off on it, which could take time and effort to get.
