“We believe the right thing to do for the game is to not rush it out into open beta, but to instead hold onto it a little longer to make sure it’s ready for wider testing. At BlizzCon, we mentioned that we hoped to get the game into a state where it’s ready for open beta this month, but we’re just not quite there yet. The development team has been working hard to get this out before the end of the year, but our highest priority is that Hearthstone has an awesome launch when all gates are lifted and everyone can download it and play at the same time.”

Invites have been sent out to anyone that signed up for the beta as of early December and it’s expected Blizzard will do the same again in early January.

In addition, IOS and Android editions of the game were announced today and should be expected some time during the “first half” of 2014.

Blizzard is working on golden heroes, which will be unlocked in a new ranked play mode. These will be fully animated, just as golden minions are.

Blizzard’s goal with the new ranked play mode is to make constructed as much fun as the Arena mode, currently favoured among closed beta players.