Summary
World of Warcraftrecently revealed it is doing work on bothThe War WithinandMidnightconcurrently. According to general manager John Hight and executive producer Holly Longdale, there are three teams working onWorld of Warcraftsimultaneously: one on each expansion, and another on the current updates to the live service game.
During BlizzCon,World of Warcraftannounced not one, but three expansion packs. TitledThe War Within,Midnight, andThe Last Titan, theseWorld of Warcraftexpansions are tied together in the Worldsoul Saga, a multi-year storyline introduced by creative director Chris Metzen during the convention. According to Metzen, these expansions would be coming at a faster rate than players are used to.
Inan interview with Bloomberg, Hight and Longdale revealed a bit more about howWorld of Warcraftwas going to make that happen. According to the executives, theWorld of Warcraftdevelopment team has expanded enough to create parallel teams. Between the two development offices – the main campus in Irvine, California, plus the former Proletariat studio Blizzard acquired in Boston, Massachusetts –World of Warcrafthas enough staff to have teams working on the live service game,The War Within, andMidnightsimultaneously. “We essentially have the makings of two expansion teams and a live team,” Longdale explained. “We’re building these foundations, and it’s already working. The team worked incredibly hard, and it’s paying off.”
While it is not uncommon forWorld of Warcraftto be working on things years in advance,World of Warcraft: Midnightprobably won’t be released until 2026. “We’re doing things right now on [Midnight] that under a normal timeframe we would not be doing,” Hight admitted. This all but confirms the accelerated content cadence ofDragonflightis here to stay, and while someWorld of Warcraftfans are worried that might be too much, Hight is certain he and the other developers can strike a balance. “We don’t want to rush people to the next expansion, but we also don’t want to drag things out longer than necessary.”
“We essentially have the makings of two expansion teams and a live team… We’re building these foundations, and it’s already working. The team worked incredibly hard, and it’s paying off.”
World of Warcrafthas always sought to release content at a faster rate, but the developers believe this new infrastructure will allowWorld of Warcraftto put out quality expansions at a faster rate than before. The accelerated cadence of content duringDragonflighthas been generally well-received. Content droughts have been shorter, and Blizzard has been transparent with its goals and intentions, and while players aredisappointed there won’t be a 10.2 inDragonflight,World of Warcraftstill has big plans for the expansion before it ends.
That said, there can be too much of a good thing. Players may getoverwhelmed ifWorld of Warcraftkeeps releasing content, especially if full-price expansions end up dropping three to six months faster than before. Though the future ofWorld of Warcraftis looking bright, concerns over content quality, overabundance, and developer burnout have players looking forward with caution as well as optimism.
