by Jeremy Waxman on Oct 05, 2015
For quite some time, many Japanese players have been enjoying Hearthstone by playing on the North American servers. Soon, they'll have the option to play on the Asian server, with a fully localized version of the game including Japanese text and brand new voice acting. For those curious, you can check out a bit of the latter in this video:
In addition, Blizzard Entertainment has set up a promotional site for the Japanese version of the game. Users can submit their battle.net email address to be notified when it goes live, as well as receive one free card pack. There has been no official confirmation, but based on past events, it seems likely that the free pack will be available for players in any region.
Of course, there are concerns from some players. The top comment on the announcement article is a Japanese player explaining that they won't be able to communicate effectively with Korean or Taiwanese players, and also expressing the concern that they'll lose their friend list from the NA server if they are forced to switch. There is no word yet on whether changing to the Asia server will be mandatory or optional for Japanese players, but it's clear there are many hoping they won't be forced into it.
Either way, having the option for a fully localized version of such a popular game should be a net positive, overall. Expanding in this way means Blizzard sees a long-term future for the game, which should be exciting for the player base.