Blizzard announced a new strategy game in the Warcraft franchise yesterday: Warcraft Arclight Rumble (iOS, Android). There are now 5 minutes of gameplay available on YouTube. The discussion is once again controversial: Blizzard is accused of being late to the “mobile gaming” trend; others say Blizzard has always followed trends.
Who is the video from? The video featuring the first gameplay of Arclight Rumble comes from Towelliee, a Twitch streamer. He seems to be one of the first people from Blizzard to have access to the game that is being hotly debated. For many “core fans” of Blizzard, mobile is a red flag.
5 Minutes of Gameplay for Arclight Rumble
Here’s what he says about the game: The streamer explains in a 5-minute video:
- Blizzard presented the game as a “tower offense” game, but in reality, it is more of an action-strategy game
- You build your forces from leaders and minis – the leaders are known characters from Warcraft like Grom Hellscream, Jaina, or Baron Rivendale.
- There is a large single-player campaign with 70 missions
- Plus weekly and monthly challenges in the form of dungeons or epic raids
- There are about 60 characters from the Warcraft universe, presented as in a tabletop board game, which you can level up and improve
Here is the first gameplay of Arclight Rumble:
Arclight Rumble is Mobile-First – No Plans for PC at the Moment
Will it also come to PC? Aside from the YouTube video, Towelliee is also showcasing the game live on Twitch.
He announced there that currently there are no plans for a PC port, as he learned from Blizzard. Blizzard does not completely rule that out for the future, but has no plans in that direction.
The game is fundamentally designed for mobile and is also intended to be “mobile first.” Blizzard wants to invest more effort into Arclight Rumble.
First Hints About the Game Were Already Made in 2017
What’s the deal with the game? We have reported on MeinMMO since 2017 that apparently a “Warcraft Mobile” game was in planning. Back then, we suspected that the game could be inspired by mobile strategy games such as Clash Royale or Clash of Clans. Those games were very popular at the time. This seems to have played out just as we suspected.
There are many indications that Arclight Rumble has been in development for a very long time: In recent years, there have been repeated reports of Activision being dissatisfied that Blizzard released too few games and took too long in development.
This is how Blizzard introduced the game in the trailer:
“Blizzard has always followed trends”
What is the reaction to the gameplay? Even in the discussion surrounding the trailer, it is evident that opinions about the game diverge widely:
- Many say it’s “just not a game for them”. It looks boring
- Some criticize Blizzard for being late to the party with such a “tower defense” game in 2022
- However, there are also some who defend Blizzard: They say that Blizzard has never been an innovator, has always followed trends, and improved them. They want to at least give Warcraft a chance
We have also compiled a depiction of this discussion and the initial reactions in detail on MeinMMO:
Blizzard announces new Warcraft Mobile, players complain: It doesn’t look like Warcraft at all
