Last weekend, the 10th anniversary of World of Warcraft was celebrated at BlizzCon in Anaheim. In addition to spectacular highlights like Overwatch, there was plenty of time to chat.
The colleagues from kotaku.com had the opportunity to speak with some Blizzard employees about the future of the Warcraft series.
World of Warcraft Lead Game Designer Ion Hazzikostas once again promised that future expansions will be released faster than before: “I know we have been saying this for years. You can find quotes from 2008 where we talk about how we want to release one expansion per year.” Blizzard wants to avoid long droughts in content, yet the planned rhythm for the last expansion was once again pushed back by a year to ensure the usual Blizzard quality.
Ion Hazzikostas, however, remains optimistic: “We have expanded our team, and I think we are able to work faster than before. Our goal is to get expansions into the hands of players faster.”
They are also already working on a new expansion for World of Warcraft. However, a makeover of the shattered world is not to be expected. WoW has evolved significantly over time, and the shattered world serves as a sort of “contrast program”.
Warcraft IV in development?
With Warcraft III, a new era of the RTS scene (Real Time Strategy) was ushered in. Looking back over the past 10 years, World of Warcraft would thus provide enough material for a Warcraft IV expansion, right? “There’s a lot of cool potential. Everyone from the WoW team sees Warcraft as an inspiration,” said Hazzikostas. Even though the Lead Designer does not want to comment further on Warcraft IV, Blizzard remains “interested”.
Regarding the question of Warcraft IV, they also asked Blizzard’s real-time strategy team. However, they are currently busy developing the last Starcraft II expansion “Legacy Of The Void.” Thus, the focus is clearly on completing the Starcraft II trilogy. After all, next year assets from Warcraft 3 will be added to the mod tools of Starcraft 2. This will allow Warcraft fans to implement their own scenarios in Starcraft II. However, Lead Game Producer Tim Morten added: “A return to the Warcraft universe would be awesome. I wish this would come true.”
If not Warcraft IV, then at least WoW 2?
We probably won’t have to wait for a WoW sequel. In a functioning MMO that’s been running for a decade, you can’t just reinvent or throw out basic game elements. A WoW 2 could be interesting if Blizzard wanted to implement something completely new that couldn’t be realized in World of Warcraft.
Conclusion: Fans have known for years that Blizzard would like to release new content and expansions at shorter intervals to bridge the drought around content. Despite the increase in the team, it doesn’t personally bother me if more time passes between expansions. After all, quality comes before speed.
Warcraft III is still a hit at every LAN party and is what it is: perfect. Sure, I would be very happy about a Warcraft IV, but let’s be honest: If Blizzard had a Warcraft IV alongside Overwatch – even I would find that too much anticipation.
WoW 2? Never! World of Warcraft not only has cult status but has also gone through a 10-year development process. Every player or former player can fill hundreds of books with stories from the past in WoW. If Blizzard were to simply come out with a… They would never do that!
Or what does your crystal ball say?
