20 years later, the most famous RPG still has more to prove

I register World of Warcraft to see a grizzled Thrall, our hero Anduin all grown up and disillusioned with the past, and a haunting villain dancing in the shadows. Twenty years after its release, Activision Blizzard's massive RPG has spawned real babies and companies named after Anduin, brought lovers together, and forged lifelong friendships. Now, in its late game, it's celebrating its age as a tried-and-true live service, Wow tries to retain former players, but does not provide any information on how many have left or who is still playing.

“We don’t want to be known as the 20-year-old game,” says Holly Longdale, World of Warcraft Executive Producer and Vice President, tells Reverse“We want to be known as the game of today, the game you want to play.”

The War Within will be released on August 26th and the studio says it is monitoring the direction the industry is heading and what players want. WoW The 10th expansion brings new features, new zones and a new race. And that's just the beginning.

“Development is already well underway on the next expansion, as well as the one after that. The team has never worked this far in advance,” says Longdale. “Blizzard is not known for doing things quickly, so they've been working at full speed. It's been great.”

AI as a tool

Last year I reported on how Blizzard Entertainment trained an image generator using its own hit titles and enhanced it with assets from World of Warcraft, DiabloAnd supervisory role. In an email I saw, Blizzard co-founder Allen Adham informed employees about a tool called Blizzard Diffusion.

Today, according to Longdale, machine learning tools are mainly used to ensure, for example, that the same helmet fits different races and body types, or to improve the spawn point and travel route of characters.

“We've always prided ourselves on the idea that we do handcrafting, and we want to stay true to that,” Longdale says when asked about using AI to generate real game content. “I'm not saying we'd never do that. None of us can think of anything we'd aspire to at this point.”

World of Warriors

Players have asked developers for more content and more ways to experience it, including raids and solo play, and complained that 2020-era Shadowlands is too dark and lacks the usual humor that players have come to expect from Wow. A feature that meets the demand for more content is called Warbands and will be added in “War Within.” Warbands allow characters to share wardrobes, which is a nod to how many Wow Players have fun dressing up and customizing characters.

While testing a beta version of The War Within, I was able to see Xal'atah for myself and try out warbands, which was a handy new feature. The unfinished version was teeming with playtesters offering each other friendly advice. The art and style of Wow The character hairstyles and skill graphics scream 2004, but the world is also enriched by decades of mounts, countless regions, and class variants to try out. It feels like nearly a billion people have traveled these lands before and left footprints.

A story for eternity

“You can step back and think about the issues in the world, whether it's climate change or whatever. We find that those issues feed into these big, epic moments that the team envisions,” says Longdale. “So we thought, this is a story for the ages. It's something that players can come back to and really be a part of.”

Every great heroic story needs a villain, and Blizzard has invested a lot of resources into making sure War Within has a villain to match. Players who don't remember much of Warcraft lore can catch up on recent events by watching a short cinematic highlighting the game's emerging global threat, Xal'atath.

“It's incredible. It's purple. What more could you ask for?” asks Longdale.

I compared the reception of the character to what Diablo players have said about Lilith – creating fan art for her or honoring her role in other ways.

“These people are amazing,” Longdale says of her teams' ability to create a villain who instantly reaches new heights of infamy. “Players call Xal'atath 'Mother,' just like they do Lilith.”

The state of Blizzard

While Xal'atath is being reintegrated into the story, Blizzard has also brought back long-time veteran Chris Metzen, who Wows legacy in a company interview, adding: “You experienced these moments. You didn't just passively watch. You didn't just read a book or watch a movie.”

Personnel changes have shaken the company severely. World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, And Call of Duty has been around for years, or in some cases decades, 2024 marks the first anniversary of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

When asked what impact this has had on development, Longdale answers bluntly: “Nothing has changed in the way we create and support our games.”

“We are also currently in discussions with teams at Xbox and Microsoft and sharing information,” she continues. “I have had discussions with Helen Chiang about Minecraft and Todd Howard was in a meeting one day and we exchanged information.”

World of Warcraft: The War Within will be released on PC on August 26th.