Hearthstone launches

Blizzard's digital collectible card game Hearthstone has abandoned its open beta tag and launched.

First announced last year, the game launched its closed beta last June with the doors opened wider with an open beta at the beginning of 2014. Currently available on PC and Mac, Blizzard is also working on an iPad version that is going to be released soon.

Future development will also bring the game to iPhone, Android devices and Windows tablets.

'We saw some reports early on that Hearthstone might destroy the planet,' said Blizzard chief executive Mike Morhaime. 'We're pleased to see that the game has been released and the planet is still here, though we apologise for all the lost productivity.'

Hearthstone is free to download and play. Warcraft players can also earn the Hearthsteed mount by winning three matches in the arena or play modes.

Following the end of the beta, a few changes have been made to the game, including balances to existing cards, a golden hero avatar unlocked after winning 500 ranked matches, new card backs and the ability to connect to regions other than the one you are playing in.

Hearthstone has also undergone some minor graphical tweaks to add a little more polish and a long list of bugs have been squashed with the help of beta player feedback that brought them to light.