We still don't know when the new Hearthstone expansion will be released, but we do know that it will be unveiled on July 1 at 9:30 a.m. PT/12:30 p.m. ET.1]

At the public event, lead designer Alec Dawson will give an overview of the second phase of "Year of the Griffon" and then game designers Liv Breeden and John McIntyre will get down to business on the new card set. We will also bring you news about Hearthstone Battlegrounds.

Not featured in the stream is Hearthstone Mercenaries, a team-based roguelike mode with simultaneous combat that was released in February. A recent research leak gave us a little more insight into what this mode might look like, but Blizzard said it is not yet ready for its close-up. The current expectation is that Mercenaries will roll out sometime in Phase 2 of Year of the Gryphon. The date has not yet been determined, but a "dedicated Hearthstone Mercenaries stream" is expected to take place in the fall.

No further details on the next expansion are available, but the announcement clearly suggests an alliance theme. That makes sense, considering that the previous expansion, Forged in the Barrens, was all about the Horde. The Hearthstone expansion announcement will be streamed on Twitch and YouTube.