I got a chance to sit down for a chat with Ben Brode over the weekend during his visit to Pax East. It was an enchanting opportunity where I was able to pick the brain of the man responsible for steering one of the best games you can play on your phone. While a large amount of the conversation revolved around the impending Witchwood expansion, we dug into some of the broader topics that seem to perennially be in the hearts and minds of Hearthstone[Free]players and especially mobile players. In the past Touch Arcade has reported on the many ways that mobile developers structure their pricing and in the first question I wanted to know some more about how Hearthstone addresses some of that issue.
TA: Leading up to the Witchwood expansion release has been one of if not the most rewarding times for a player to log in and play via completing daily quests. A player that wants to play for free can sometimes feel outgunned by paying players but this event has been one of the best ways that that gap has been bridged. Was the event targeted at FTP players or was it a more general strategy to increase the hype for the Witchwood" Ben Brode: Definitely the latter. Our events team does not see the financial side of things, their directive is to make the game as fun as possible. We don't want to complicate the way you can pay for Hearthstone. We don't want a dozen different deals running at any given time. Our focus is to provide a very simple purchasing interface and make everything...