Blizzard has presented the future of World of Warcraft and given a preview of the upcoming patches. Already in the first major content update for The War Within, a new type of mount will come: Goblin cars. They’re not only fast, but you can also personalize them.
What kind of cars are those?
- With patch 11.1 “Undermine(d)”, the journey goes deep into the goblin city Undermine. The theme there is… as expected goblins and their engineering skills.
- As part of the content, you’ll get goblin cars as new ground mounts. While they can’t fly, they drift and are faster than all other ground mounts.
- Together with the mounts and the zone, a new raid and new depths will appear. You can find details about the content in the roadmap for the upcoming WoW content.
This is how the new mounts work: Already in the Warcraft Direct, WoW head Ion Hazzikostas explained the new cars in more detail. In the interview with PC Gamer, the Assistant Lead Quest Designer Mark Kaleda provides additional information.
Undermine is designed to be driven by cars. The roads are designed for you to explore them with the new mounts and fully utilize their features. Here are the known details about the cars so far:
- The goblin cars are “much faster” than other mounts, Kaleda speaks of “4 to 5 times faster.”
- You can customize the cars and upgrade parts. Hazzikostas explains that you can choose whether you want more grip or more drift, more acceleration or higher top speed.
- Drifting will apparently also be an important mechanic: The team is considering that you receive a speed boost the longer you drift.
- For the vehicles, there will be time-sensitive quests as well as the ground equivalent of dragon races.
Anyone who loves Need for Speed and was already good at Mario Kart will surely feel comfortable with the new mounts. On Reddit, there’s even an idea circulating about a potential kart game in the WoW style.
Patch 11.1 and the new expansion Midnight – What’s next
In addition to patch 11.1, Blizzard spoke about the future of WoW at the Warcraft Direct. The next expansion is named Midnight and is the second part of the cycle of the new addon series.
Midnight will be presented in detail in late summer 2025. When exactly Midnight will be released, we do not know yet. One feature we already know about: WoW is getting housing, something that players have been requesting for 20 years. According to the roadmap, housing could even be released before Midnight.
Until then, a few smaller and one larger patch are coming up. In 11.2, for example, there is:
- new world events and challenges in the open world
- a new dungeon and a new raid
- updates for warbands and the Brewfest
The smaller interim patches will bring new stories, quests, and smaller events. In the next upcoming patch 11.0.7, which is set to arrive in winter 2024, you can visit the Siren Islands and receive an upgradeable ring. Additionally, Plunderstorm is returning: WoW brings back the mode that divided the community – this time with a shop.
