As the Warcraft universe approaches 30 years of adventure in the many iterations of Azeroth on 15 November, the teams across World of Warcraft, Classic, Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble came together for a special presentation.
Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct just wrapped and throughout the show, the Warcraft teams reflected on the legacy of this iconic gaming universe, celebrating players and delighting them with what’s to come for each Warcraft title.
If you missed the live broadcast, the full video is available on the World of Warcraft YouTube Channel here. For each game, here’s a quick overview of what was announced:
- WORLD OF WARCRAFT (Modern): On 24 November, WoW celebrates 20 Years of exploring (and saving) Azeroth.
- The first major content update for The War Within, Undermine(d) (11.1), launches early next year and will take players to the subterranean goblin capital of Undermine as players continue to chase the mysterious Xal’atath to thwart her plans.
- With Undermine(d), Season 2 for The War Within will include:
- 2 New Delves, with the current ones receiving thematic updates
- 1 New Dungeon, which will also be available in the Season 2 Mythic+ pool, along with the remaining four launch dungeons and 3 legacy dungeons.
- A new ground mount specially engineered for high-speed traversal within the Goblin city.
- And of course, a new 8-boss raid where players will face off against Gallywix and his allies throughout the city of Undermine.
- Player housing is coming in Midnight! The WoW team shared a teaser to conclude their portion of the Direct with more details about this system coming next year.
- WORLD OF WARCRAFT CLASSIC: Wrapping up Season of Discovery and making room for a “fresh” start.
- Continuing the Classic journey on the progression servers, Mists of Pandaria Classic will invite players to explore this beloved expansion as it was (with “#somechanges”) when it first released in 2012.
- A highly requested feature from WoW Classic players, the 20th Anniversary Edition Realms will give Classic Era players a fresh start to World of Warcraft and will also include Hardcore server options both of which will progress through the content updates simultaneously. Additionally, non-Hardcore servers will progress to Burning Crusade Classic.
- HEARTHSTONE: The Hearthstone team shared their plans for 2025, including the next three expansions!
- The team kicks off the year with a journey to a whole other universe, as the Heroes of Starcraft mini set invites the Protoss, Terran and Zerg to the tavern.
- Shortly thereafter, the team opens the doors to the Underground Arena, before venturing Into the Emerald Dream for the first expansion of the year.
- Then, players will journey back into Un’Goro Crater to explore The Shrouded City, before concluding the year with a journey alongside Chromie through alternate realities in The Heroes of Time.
- WARCRAFT RUMBLE: Celebrating One Year of Joyful Chaos.
- Warcraft Rumble is coming to PC! With a beta launching on 11 December .
- The PC-release of Warcraft Rumble will come hot on the heels of another brand-new feature – Split Leaders. These leaders belong to two families at a time, and include such legendary figures as Orgrim Doomhammer, Malfurion Stormrage, and Anub’arak.
- WARCRAFT RTS: The games that started it all will receive updates – now available!
- A new Warcraft Battle Chest is available for players to explore the origins of the Warcraft Universe with some modernisations and quality-of-life changes.
- This dynamically priced bundle (meaning it will adjust based on what players already have in their collection), will give players access to:
- Warcraft: Orcs & Humans Remastered
- Warcraft II: Tides of War Remastered
- Warcraft III: Reforged
- This game will progress to update 2.0 which brings new features including a customisable visual experience for players that will allow them to choose Reforged graphics, the classic game graphics, and a new remastered classic game presentation with increased resolution for modern systems.
- What’s more, players will be able to mix and match the elements of their UI, from icons and portraits to game scenes, for the three graphic options.
You can also check out the blog here to catch up on everything you need to know from the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct.
More information for each of these updates will be forthcoming across the respective Warcraft game sites.
