Seems that Hearthstone’s rather appealing and generous free-to-play setup wasn’t done by accident. It’s recently been revealed that the structure was planned out by Blizzard with the game’s long life in mind.

We’re here for the long run,” said producer Yong Woo. “We’re not here to make a quick buck. I want to be playing and working on Hearthstone 10 years from now… Instead of focusing on maximising immediate profit, Hearthstone is really about being able to play it how you want to.”

Production director Jason Chayes echoed the same ideals while elaborating “When Blizzard approaches a game it’s with the intention of making something that’s going to be around not for a month or two or a year or two but something that we’re really into for the long haul. A game that we plan to support for many many years to come, and that’s certainly the case with Hearthstone.”

Recently Blizzard also announced that they’d expansions planned for their other game World of Warcraft that would also hopefully carry the game forward until 2024.