Hearthstone semi-public beta set to begin in China, here's how to get your keys

Blizzard games tend to do pretty well in China. And while World of Warcraft‘s dominance is finally on the wane, the upcoming Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft has definitely captured Chinese gamers’ attention. And now, there’s good news on that front. Netease, Hearthstone‘s China publisher, has likely already begin an internal beta of the game, and domestic sources are reporting that Netease could start passing beta keys to the public as early as today.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is a free-to-play collectible card game that, as the title implies, is set in the Warcraft universe. Blizzard will make its money off the sale of booster packs, which in China will reportedly be sold for between RMB 18 and RMB 328 ($3-$53) depending on the number and type of cards in the pack, although this pricing has not been officially announced yet. Booster packs, at least some of them, will also be earnable in the game, with will focus on one-on-one card battles.

If you’re interested in getting in on the China beta, you can go to Hearthstone’s page on China’s official Battle.net site; the button to apply for a beta key is in the lower right-hand corner. Applicants will need a Battle.net account and a Chinese mobile phone for verification, though, so if you were hoping to sneak into the Chinese beta from somewhere else in Asia, you’re probably out of luck.

(via Tencent Games)