Digital Trends Interview - A Grand Vision for the Future of Warcraft

Live Posted 14 days ago by Archimtiros

The Worldsoul Saga

The series’ strong showing at BlizzCon was about demonstrating to players that Blizzard is doubling down on Warcraft.

Both developers made it clear that there are no signs of Warcraft slowing down across the MMO, mobile, and even real-time strategy (RTS) spaces. In fact, they'd like to get World of Warcraft expansions out faster.

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“We wanted to tell our players that we’re doubling down on story. A lot of our players have told us over the last two expansions that story is so important,” Hight told Digital Trends in an interview at BlizzCon 2023. “It is different for us at Blizzard because, normally, we’re a little bit secretive, but we felt like our fans were telling us they want to know more about what’s in store for them. It’s tricky to weave that in such a way that we didn’t spoil it.”

The Worldsoul Saga story had to be told across three expansions, not just the one coming next year.

However, the culmination of The Worldsoul Saga in the Last Titan expansion is not the end of World of Warcraft, just the end of that big chapter. Blizzard will continue to do expansions beyond that.

Digital Trends

“Executive creative director Chris] Metzen and the story team had this incredible idea, and it all evolved around the 20th anniversary coming up. What story can we tell that is worthy of 20 years of operation?” Hight explained. “There’s no way that story was going to fit into a single expansion. The notion of doing it as a trilogy came forward because it provided for the creation of a conflict, a resolution, a turnaround, and then a bigger payoff at the end.”

No specific release timeline for Midnight or The Last Titan, but many production improvements have been made in recent years to allow Blizzard to deliver quality content at a predictable rate, and GM John Hight hopes that rate gets even quicker over time.

In a group Q&A, associate design director Maria Hamilton also reaffirmed that content for these The Worldsoul Saga expansions are being worked on in parallel.

Digital Trends

“The ultimate goal for us is to be able to deliver content in a predictable fashion so players know when to expect the next expansion,” Hight said. “We would like to do it more frequently, we don’t really want people to have to wait two years for the next expansion. We’re not ready yet to commit to what that cadence is going to be because we’ve got to find that sweet spot between our ability, how much time we think we’re going to need, and when our players start to indicate to us when they’re ready.”

The War Within also falls during Warcraft's 20th anniversary, and while they do something to celebrate the franchise birthday every year, players can probably expect it to be even more over the top in 2024.

Ready to Rumble

The game launched after spawning from an incubation team within the larger pool of World of Warcraft developers.

They want Warcraft to always “be where the players are” and mobile could be an appealing entry point for many of them, but they still want the game to be its own thing and feel tailored to mobile.

Early user reviews for Warcraft Rumble across iOS and Android appear positive; Blizzard is eager to build on that success and let the game live on as long as Hearthstone and even World of Warcraft have.

Digital Trends

“Blizzard is known for creating forever games,” Saraf tells Digital Trends. “That’s what we aspire to be as well. You look at World of Warcraft, almost 20 years; Hearthstone, almost 10 years. Seeing these elder siblings essentially have games that have lasted as long as they have, it’s really inspiration for us to aim for that as well. We’re fortunate enough to have a very active, engaged, and committed community that allows that to be a lot easier for us, but our job is just getting started. We want to make sure that we are servicing fans with what they want and able to continue to inject new life into the game so it continues to stay relevant and fun for them to play for years on end.”

The interplay between these Warcraft games is still being explored. At the very least, Warcraft Rumble is somewhat of a throwback for the franchise as a real-time strategy game, which Hight has a long history with.

Digital Trends

“I love strategy games. When I was a game director many moons ago, I was game director for Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2,” Hight explained. “I play every genre of game. I love Warcraft. The storylines and characters are so unique, it’s so fun, it has got humor, it also has got danger, and it’s fantasy! I think we have the potential to do all kinds of games, as we’ve seen with the RTS, then the MMO, then with Hearthstone, and now Warcraft Rumble.”
Foundations for the Future

Blizzard doesn’t plan on slowing down with Warcraft anytime soon. Hight believes he’s just laying a foundation for future developers, following in the footsteps of companies like Disney.

Digital Trends

“What I tell my teams is we’re the caretakers of the universe. If we’ve done our jobs right, we’re handing off to the next generation of developers, and they will carry it forward. I look at Disney as a model for us. We should be crafting that universe; we should be putting enough care behind it. Same thing with Marvel. It started off as comic books in the 1930s and look where it is today. As long as we’re being thoughtful and careful and laying that groundwork, future talent will be able to step in and take it even further. There’ll be new devices, new forms of entertainment, new ways for people to get together and enjoy this universe.”

Comment by slippyToadPlease don't look at current Disney for inspiration :SComment by durf24"I look at Disney as a model for us."

Yeah, maybe don't do that. Or at least look to Walt's Disney over the trash heap it has become.Comment by AedionMorrisI wouldn't look to Disney to inspire me for anything in light of recent years (especially their employee treatment and constant remakes)Comment by LandaiWarcraft is doomed if they’re going to go a Disney route. Just quantity over quality with no soul in it.Comment by WepstarWarcraft Rumble is good (I love strategy games 2. Still remember Warcraft 1 on MSDos, good old times).
But one minus is that I cannot buy infinity buff on exp because it does not exists in Battelnet store...
You can buy it only on Google play. I dont want to use Google play to buy Blizzard products! Please fix this!

P.S. Regarding future Disney WoW2, hope my Night Elf male will finally get his legs fixed. =))
And please no more GIANT shoulders!

WoW characters in Disney style will look like something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3VaX33c9AQComment by UrhWoVyoh no, not Disney.Comment by SoeroahThis summary of the interview made it sound like they were working on RTS games more >_<Comment by BroodlingKathleen Kennedy's Disney is not something to model after.Comment by LehnardLet's look at a sinking ship and copy that for future success.
The sun must be very hot in California to get steamy brain farts like thatComment by pawpurrOh, poor John. He's not exactly in touch with the "Average person". I get that he's talking about making a legacy that lives on etc but man was disney the wrong example to use. Everyone is tired of seeing warcraft "Disneyfied", we look to Metzen to save us from that.Comment by KolplerFerriOh, poor John. He's not exactly in touch with the "Average person". I get that he's talking about making a legacy that lives on etc but man was disney the wrong example to use. Everyone is tired of seeing warcraft "Disneyfied", we look to Metzen to save us from that.Comment by Arjisaj"I look at Disney as a model for us" Oh dear god noComment by RavenHearted25Maybe just maybe do not model yourselves after Disney as it is in its current state. Not unless you want to lose a lot of money and playersComment by SkimrockWarcraft Rumble is good (I love strategy games 2. Still remember Warcraft 1 on MSDos, good old times).
But one minus is that I cannot buy infinity buff on exp because it does not exists in Battelnet store...
You can buy it only on Google play. I dont want to use Google play to buy Blizzard products! Please fix this!

P.S. Regarding future Disney WoW2, hope my Night Elf male will finally get his legs fixed. =))
And please no more GIANT shoulders!

WoW characters in Disney style will look like something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3VaX33c9AQComment by wallrochaLove the PR talk to announce smaller expansions as faster releases slowly without actually saying it and we all know how this is gonna end.Comment by cateauhas disney made anything worth of a legacy lately? I guess its matching whats blizz is doing with their legacyComment by OverhaulWhy not copy Nintendo? Disney is hot trash.Comment by FandhfkjOh look at that! The people always comparing current WoW to Disney were actually right. Absolute joke. This is the future of WoW? Guess WoW has no future then! So much for everyone thinking Metzen was gonna fix the direction of the game.Comment by DragonGuardianWarcraft is doomed if they’re going to go a Disney route. Just quantity over quality with no soul in it.Comment by KikiyoDragonI'm hoping that Disney comment was more about how, say, Mickey Mouse has been a thing for like a century now and everyone knows who he is, etc., and not so much a comment about artstyle or business models.