Hearthstone wants to give players free Whispers of the Old Gods card packs

Those old gods might look scary, but they’re surprisingly generous.

During a streaming event today, Blizzard revealed that players can earn five more packs of Whispers of the Old Gods by completing a special launch quest that tasks players with winning two games of Standard (Hearthstone’s new mode that makes cards from older sets illegal). It’s a strategy that’s friendly for newcomers, since it will help them quickly build up a decent collection of new cards. It fits in line with Blizzard’s plan for Whispers of the Old Gods, which includes the addition of Standard, which begins the Hearthstone’s set rotation (new players were having a hard time catching up with players who had most of the cards from old expansions). The digital card game market is worth $1.2 billion a year, and Blizzard’s Hearthstone leads the field, making $20 million a month.

After finishing that quest, they can complete another by winning seven games of Standard and earn another five packs. This is on top of the free three cards players players will receive when they log in during launch week (the expansion comes out on April 26). Blizzard is also giving away a Legendary card, C’Thun.

Packs of cards usually cost about $1.50 each, and they’re among the ways Blizzard makes money from the free-to-play game. This is a pretty generous move, but it also ensure that new players can quickly begin earning some of the new cards so that they can begin competing.