Blizzard don’t do paid betas anymore. They let the internet clamour for free keys instead, in gargantuan giveaways that damn near break poor websites like this one.
Except maybe they do. Somebody says they’ve found a page on the battle.net launcher promising beta access and a golden mount for a fee, via something called the Heroes of the Storm Founder’s Pack.
The Founder’s Pack will be a digital purchase, say Heroes Nexus. It’ll unlock beta access and a wolf mount made of solid gold, which isn’t what they’re normally made out of.
The battle.net button links to a page on the European battle.net shop that currently 404s, and there’s no timeframe for the Pack forthcoming. But dataminers haven’t seen gleaming hide nor shiny hair of this wolf mount in Heroes of the Storm’s files yet, so don’t expect it tomorrow.
The last time Blizzard asked players to pay for a beta was before the release of Mists of Pandaria. WoW players could explore the expansion isle early via the game’s Annual Pass.
Heroes of the Storm is Blizzard’s MOBA that they won’t call a MOBA. It threatens to mop up the remaining masses not already enamoured by the genre by doing for team lane-battling what Hearthstone did for the CCG – make it “more welcoming”.
Is that what you’ve been waiting for? Respected critics called the Heroes of the Storm technical alpha a “triumph”.