Is there another WoW expansion after Shadowlands? Obviously. The Game Director just confirmed that.
With every World of Warcraft expansion, players wonder if the end is near. After all, Shadowlands is already the eighth expansion. Yet for a game that has been declared dead for almost 12 years, WoW continues to hold its ground. Will Shadowlands really be the last expansion this time?
No, it won’t be. The Game Director has confirmed that now.
What was said? It was actually about the statement from Ion Hazzikostas, the Game Director of WoW, regarding the Covenant abilities. These will also be usable outside of the Shadowlands in Shadowlands. Briefly, these abilities were limited to the Shadowlands in beta, but that is set to change. Hazzikostas stated:
Covenants are a core part of Shadowlands, but when the next expansion comes out (Yes, there will be one), we know we need to ensure that returning players don’t have to go all the way back and complete the covenant progress to feel competitive.
This small aside in parentheses, “Yes, there will be one,” confirms the hope of many fans. After Shadowlands, World of Warcraft is not finished.
What does that mean? In plain language, it just means that we can also look forward to a ninth WoW expansion. When that will happen is still uncertain. If Blizzard maintains the rhythm, it is likely to be around the end of 2022 – but that’s pure speculation for now.
What is the next expansion about? That is still completely uncertain. Blizzard has announced in several interviews that they want to explore more of the WoW cosmos created with the Chronicles books, but no one knows the exact plans except Blizzard itself. It is quite possible that the other cosmic realms – such as the origin of Void or Light – are next on the travel agenda.
At Blizzard, it has long been the case that the developers plan about two expansions ahead. That the rough conception of the ninth expansion is already being planned behind the scenes is therefore obvious. For WoW fans, this is surely good news – at least for the next few years, the plug won’t be pulled.
If Blizzard now also fulfills the wish for an Arthas movie from Henry Cavill, everything will be fine…
Are you relieved that the beyond of WoW is not the last expansion yet? Or would you have thought it would be good if an end was slowly reached?
