Executive Producer Holly Longdale looked back at 2024 and shared what’s in the pipeline for WoW in 2025.
- A preview of player housing is coming today.
- The team will work on making the game more welcoming to new and returning players. This is a long-term goal for both Midnight and The Last Titan.
- They are working on UI/UX improvements, but have no specifics to announce right now.
- There is now a dedicated Social initiative within Blizzard’s development team to provide solutions and features like rewards for positive behavior, easier ways to connect with like-minded players, and more.
- They are looking at improvements to how they connect in-game Friends, Group Finder, and better interaction of external social platforms the community uses regularly.
Greetings, citizens of Azeroth!
As many celebrate the Lunar New Year all around the world and in Azeroth, we want to take a moment to pause, reflect on 2024, and share more of what we have planned for 2025.
Another year has gone by, and we are so thankful for all of you who have joined us in Azeroth, no matter what flavor you prefer: whether you enjoy Classic Era, Season of Discovery, Cataclysm Classic, The War Within, or more recently, the World of Warcraft Classic 20thAnniversary Edition, we are thrilled that you are here with us.
We were also moved by your immense generosity when you came out in support of CureDuchenne by welcoming the Reven Pack into your collections and raising over USD $2 million! We saw you wearing your adorable backpacks and bringing this curious little companion with you throughout your adventures in Azeroth, and we are deeply grateful for your care and kindness!
Learning and Growing with You
2024 has provided us many opportunities to learn and grow this past year thanks to your steadfast support and feedback. This year, we plan to continue to build upon what we’ve learned, improve the game, and experiment with new ideas to invigorate and bring new twists to Azeroth.
We see you too, Classic WoW players! No matter what Classic game mode you enjoy, the development team is dedicated to continuing to listen to your feedback and adjusting—all with an endless passion for bringing you more great experiences ahead.
We remain committed to always being in conversation with you, listening, watching, and being as transparent as possible as we cook up new adventures for you wherever your journey takes you in Azeroth.
There’s No Place Like Home
The road ahead couldn’t be more exciting for us as we move ever closer to the next chapter in the Worldsoul Saga— World of Warcraft: Midnight. We have so much more to share with you as we continue to move through The War Within (and everything else we have planned!) as we progress through the year.
During Warcraft Direct in November we released a teaser for just one of the new features we’re looking forward to bringing to you: Housing. Believe me, we all found it so hard to keep it a secret! But seeing your excitement at the reveal made it all so worth it.
Housing is more than a feature to us. No matter what we create, it’s the community that will help to define how Housing gives everyone a place in Azeroth to truly make their own. Our passionate and dedicated Housing development team will be working alongside the community to bring you something truly special. Our eyes and ears are always open to you, as the journey home begins with you.
Check back on the official World of Warcraft news site to get an eye on the blueprint for Housing today—we can’t wait for you to get your first look!
Getting the Classic Experience
For those looking forward to World of Warcraft Classic: Mists of Pandaria, the Classic design team is setting the stage for your return to the isle of Pandaria and the monkey business we know you’ll get up to.
There’s also more to come in Season of Discovery now that Karazhan Crypts is here with Phase 7 and Naxxramas opening its doors soon. Cataclysm Classic continues to fire on all cylinders, alongside our fast-paced release cadence for the Classic 20th Anniversary realms.
As always, the Classic development team is dedicated to delivering experiences for everyone who wants to dive into the nostalgia of World of Warcraft.
Where WoW is and Where it’s Going
The development team has embraced a lot of the feedback we’ve received from the community, and we have spent a lot of time reflecting on where the game is today. There are a few areas we want to improve on over time, and we have already begun taking our first steps toward setting the foundations for those improvements.
First, we want to make World of Warcraft more approachable for anyone who wants to join the adventures we have available to them. In introducing the New Player Experience with Exile’s Reach, we wanted to create an easy way for new players to begin their first journeys into Azeroth, or bring back returning players in a way that would help get them up to speed. We know the experience can be better and are working toward new improvements to the feature to streamline the experience in the near term and expand upon what it can be in the future.
We know that being truly welcoming requires a lot of work around our new and returning player experiences in modern WoW. We are committed to that work, and we will be making some improvements in Midnight and The Last Titan. I’ll be honest—this will be a long-term, ongoing journey, as the game evolves and changes with each expansion. There is no quick fix, but we are here for it.
We are also looking at how World of Warcraft is played by different kinds of players so we can make improvements for everyone. Our UI/UX has been going through steady changes and improvements since Dragonflight, and that will continue as we learn, research, and evolve. New features like Delves, Warbands, Follower Dungeons, and even Housing naturally teaches us a lot. More to come on this soon! ™
An area we want to double-down on in a big way is our community. You are what brings Azeroth to life, and you make our game truly unique. To properly commit to this fundamental aspect of World of Warcraft, we now have a dedicated Social initiative within our development team. Social stands alongside our other initiatives (like Expansions or Housing) to provide solutions and features—like, for example, rewards for positive behavior, easier ways to connect with like-minded players, roleplaying <gasp!>, and more. As an even more specific example, we’re looking at improvements to how we connect in-game Friends, Group Finder, and better integration to common external social platforms that we know the community uses regularly. The team is working on Social projects now that we hope to be able to share more about over the next year.
It’s been 20 years of World of Warcraft and while time may have flown by, the memories we all continue to make together are priceless. We want to continue to help create and share these memories, and we can’t wait to share more with you in the year ahead as we build the foundations for the next 20 years— and beyond!
With sincere gratitude and a hopeful eye to the future,
Holly Longdale
