World of Warcraft at BlizzCon ® 2023 News Round up

World of Warcraft feels like it's entering a new era—Microsoft acquisition aside, Dragonflight managed to take a bite out of the design choices responsible for Shadowland's historic low point for the game. 

’s next few years are written in digital stone, with beginning in earnest some time next year. Until then, residents of Azeroth continue onward through the game’s latest expansion, , with its recent content push making an appearance soon after ’s curtains closed.

I went into BlizzCon expecting big World of Warcraft announcements, and we certainly got a bunch of them, but I can’t rightfully say I was right about any. However, I still think Iridikron will remain an antagonist throughout the next expansion, and it won’t be until Midnight that we’ll actually deal with him for the last time. I did not expect to get three expansion announcements, and some of the features coming with The War Within were also surprising. Additionally, 10.2 went live, and I have some thoughts about how that is progressing. Let’s jump in!

World of Warcraft fans were delightfully surprised during BlizzCon 2023, thanks to the candid and transparent announcement of not one but three Warcraft expansions. 

Most Warcraft fans expected an expansion announcement for the massively multiplayer RPG at last weekend’s BlizzCon 2023. But to hear Warcraft game director Ion Hazzikostas tell it, Blizzard Entertainment’s bold decision to debut the next three expansions at once made even its own leaders nervous.

Shortly after the announcement for World of Warcraft‘s next expansions—a trilogy referred to as the Worldsoul Saga—the studio had seen quite a bit of criticism for offering 3 days of early access for players to players that would pre-order the Epic Edition of World of Warcraft: The War Within.

Blizzard has posted the post-BlizzCon Q&A with Bethany Stout, Ion Hazzikostas, Morgan Day and more!

Digital Trends interviewed Warcraft franchise General Manager John Hight and Warcraft Rumble executive producer Vik Saraf about what the future of Warcraft looks like, looking at Disney as a model while crafting an ongoing universe, and supporting the franchise for years to come. Digital Trends Interview with John Hight & Vik Saraf

World of Warcraft director Ion Hazzikostas has confirmed there's «no long-term advantage» for players willing to pay for early access to the next expansion.

World of Warcraft: The War Within is the first WoW expansion where purchasing a more-expensive edition gets you into the new content more quickly. The announcement caused an immediate controversy, but the game's director claims it will not ultimately affect players' progression relative to each other.

During BlizzCon 2023, the World of Warcraft team announced that the next few expansions would be releasing at a faster pace than players are used to, highlighted by the fact that the MMO developer showcased the next three expansions on stage. The team's development process to do so apparently is a result of feedback from Shadowlands' glacial pace of content releases, according to the developers in a group interview over the weekend.

Over the near-twenty years that World of Warcraft has been on the market, the topic of a console port has come up again and again, only to never materialize. By now, most fans might have given up on the concept, but Blizzard is actually still keen on the possibility.