A few game data points in the live version of World of Warcraft hint at the next expansion. It might be about dragons.
The leak season for World of Warcraft has begun, and Blizzard itself is giving rise to new speculations about the future of World of Warcraft. A new package of encrypted game files has been discovered, which provides some clues about upcoming game content. A “Dragon Expansion” has suddenly become much more likely.
What has been discovered? The colleagues from wowhead have found some encrypted file packages while datamining the current game data. These packages resemble those that have been included in previous expansions as bonus content for buyers of the Deluxe Edition. Although the exact contents are still unknown, there are some connections to the packages, such as the file “9fx_drakemountemerald_buff_4219045” – The name “Drake Mount Emerald” is basically an “Emerald Dragon Mount”.
In addition to the mount, there seems to be a pet included in the package as well. Both files are relatively large (mount 8.9 MB, pet 5.5 MB), significantly larger than previous mounts and pets. This suggests higher quality or many additional effects of these creatures.
Also interesting: The still encrypted files are associated with some textures that are not encrypted. These include green fog and star effects.
Is this definitely the new expansion? No. At least theoretically, it is possible that Blizzard might also introduce another bundle that doesn’t necessarily have to do with the new expansion. However, the clues have been accumulating over the past days and weeks, so one might cautiously consider a Dragon Expansion. Whether the content will align with the leak or turn out to be something entirely different remains to be seen.
Several clues are coming together: Various hints have emerged that the next expansion will again focus on dragons and therefore Azeroth. The first clue was noted by many players in the “Dragon Bundle” that Blizzard promoted in the shop a few months ago. There were many dragon mounts available at a reduced price. Now, shortly after a supposed leak regarding the “The Dragon Isles” expansion, game data about an encrypted dragon mount is also surfacing, which is making even the skeptical fans take notice.
However, please keep in mind that nothing has been confirmed by Blizzard so far. What the next expansion is truly about will likely only be revealed in a few months.
What do you think of this information? Are you sure that it will be a Dragon addon? Or is this all still too vague?
