Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft's upcoming single-player expansion, Curse of Naxxramas, will be available in five individual parts for $6.99 each, or as much as $24.99 for all five, developer Blizzard Entertainment announced today.
Naxxramas is a floating necropolis consisting of five wings — the Arachnid Quarter, Plague Quarter, Military Quarter, Construct Quarter and Frostwyrm Lair — each of which has its own set of bosses. The Arachnid Quarter will kick off the release of Curse of Naxxramas, and that wing will be available free to anybody who gets in on the expansion during its launch event, which "will last roughly a month or so," according to Blizzard.
After the Arachnid Quarter, Hearthstone players will have to buy the other four wings. They can buy an individual wing with real money or with gold that they've earned by playing the game. One wing will cost $6.99 or 700 in-game gold.
Blizzard will be selling bundles for people who want to buy multiple wings at once. Those who start playing during Curse of Naxxramas' launch event can pay $19.99 for the four wings following the Arachnid Quarter. Players who own the first two wings can pay $14.99 for the remaining three, and those who have opened the first three wings can buy access to the last two for $9.99. Individuals who miss out on the launch event can buy all five wings for $24.99.
Blizzard noted that paying for wings ahead of time won't make them unlock any faster; they'll still be released on the one-a-week schedule. The studio also explained the Heroic mode in Curse of Naxxramas. The first time a player takes down all the bosses in a particular wing, they'll unlock Heroic versions of those enemies, which are much tougher than the standard bosses. Those who manage to defeat all the Heroic bosses will unlock a new card.
There's still no concrete release date for Curse of Naxxramas; Blizzard said last month that it was planning to launch the expansion in July. Curse of Naxxramas is set to be released simultaneously on iPad, Mac and Windows PC.