Hearthstone for iPhone and Android phones slips to early 2015

Blizzard Entertainment's digital collectible card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft won't make its way to mobile phones until next year, the developer confirmed today, saying the iPhone and Android phone versions of the game need more time.

Hearthstone for iPhone and Android was announced at last year's BlizzCon by then-chief creative officer Rob Pardo. While the Android tablet version is still slated for a release before the end of 2014, Hearthstone fans looking for a more compact version of the game will have to wait a bit longer.

"We're also close to having Hearthstone out to our iPhone and Android phone users, but it's become clear that we need a little more time to get that version right," community manager Christina Sims wrote in a development update.  "While we have a build up and running internally, it needs a bit more work, and we don't feel like we'll be ready to share it with you until early next year. It's very important to us that the phone experience for Hearthstone is just as accessible as the tablet and PC versions. One of the biggest challenges with that is revamping the user interface so it feels intuitive and offers the same quality Hearthstone experience, but this time from the palm of your hand."

Sims says Blizzard is using the extra time to "make Hearthstone's user interface on the phone customized to feel great for the platform, rather than a port that doesn't taken into account the limitations of a smaller screen."

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft was officially released for Mac and Windows PC in March. An iPad version followed in April.

For more on Hearthstone and how its "planet-cracking success" helped lead Blizzard Entertainment to reexamine the types of games it makes, read Polygon's feature on the company.