Blizzard appears to have decided that the best way for them to combat the Hearthstone is dying narrative would be by releasing the $60 Ragnaros skin

Hearthstone has been around for over a decade, which is a long time for a game. It's not the behemoth that it was in its prime. Blizzard assured players in July, however, that the game isn't dying despite some less than ideal impressions. Blizzard did what is expected of a game in its prime: they added a little fire-faced guy at the bottom. You can get him for $60.

Ragnaros is the Firelord. He's the powerful Elemental God of Fire in World of Warcraft. He's a bit smaller in Hearthstone but still has an unnecessarily hostile attitude. He's just a small face at the bottom of the Hearthstone screen that occasionally yells at you, and gets bonked or bonked depending on the situation.

Brian Kibler, a Hearthstone content creator and caster, has posted a video showing the Hearthstone version Ragnaros at work.

Fair enough, the Mythic Ragnaros Bundle is a fully-animated 3D skin that can be used by both classes: Shaman and Warrior. The bundle includes three Shaman cards and three Warrior cards. Technically, this does reduce the price of the skin, but only in the sense that you would need to pay for the packs separately if you wanted them. A bundle of seven standard packs costs $10, and that's not nothing. For most Hearthstone users, it has only added to their frustration.

Because irritation, and sometimes even more intense emotions, seem to be the most frequent reaction to the skin. Ragnaros costs $60, whether you buy a few card packs or not. Some people have called it a "sleazy cash grab" in the top thread of the Hearthstone subreddit, while others say it's just Microsoft trying to squeeze the last drops from the lemon before shutting down Hearthstone in the near future. There is genuine anger, but it's often masked by a sense of dread, perhaps inevitable, given Hearthstone’s slow descent into decrepitude.

The $60 skin may not be a sign that the world is about to end. It could simply reflect the fact, hey, this stuff sells. Diablo 4's microtransactions have brought in more than 150 million dollars, and that's on top of its $50 base price. Weapon cosmetics in Valorant can be incredibly expensive, but players keep buying them. Spectre Divide launched with a $90 gun skin pack, which caused some outrage at first (it was a brand new game after all). Mountaintop Studios then reduced the price to $70--which is still a lot of money for a different look in-game.

Does it stink? The constant drive to monetize anything that moves will probably do more harm than good over the long term. This $60 skin could be a sign that Blizzard is planning to support Heartstone through other, less irritating ways.