World of Warcraft: Eternally, a Traditional+ iteration of the long-running franchise that lets gamers return to an up to date vanilla Azeroth that includes new zones, dungeons, raids, and extra, was introduced at yesterday’s BlizzCon 2026 Opening Ceremony. And now, the sport’s builders are revealing why they assume the brand new tackle the basic recreation (together with the quite a few different WoW updates introduced yesterday) renders the long-speculated World of Warcraft 2 pointless.
I sat down with Kris Zierhut, World of Warcraft: Eternally’s Principal Designer, and Mike Nuthals, the sport’s Lead Encounter Designer, instantly following yesterday’s announcement to interrupt down the sport’s many new options and to debate why they assume it’s even higher than any potential WoW sequel.
“I believe one of the issues that is singularly nice about WoW is we’ve got this recreation and this world and this design that has been constantly developed for the final 25 years,” Zierhut says. “And we maintain making it higher. We made the graphics higher, we made the rendering higher, we made the lighting higher; all that new stuff we confirmed on stage right now.
“However we have additionally made the best way the engine attracts issues transfer extra effectively. The way in which the server runs, dealing with gamers and shifting them round, and all of the issues that deal with spells and fight, all of that is been made extra environment friendly and higher over time. We’ve this unimaginable engine and server infrastructure driving the sport that’s second to none. Why would you throw that away and begin over?”
Zierhut went on to say that, along with the technical developments in World of Warcraft: Eternally, the group continues to be invested in constructing the story of the present WoW universe.
“It’s not like there’s one thing improper with the story,” Zierhut says. “We love the story. So going again to the start [with World of Warcraft: Forever], there’s an opportunity to discover that story in new and alternative ways. So it is actually laborious to say, ‘Properly, what would a WoW 2 provide you with that World of Warcraft: Eternally is not already providing you with?’”
As revealed on stage yesterday, World of Warcraft: Eternally received’t merely be a rehashed replace of the unique. Along with “up to date world visuals and lighting,” the sport will function 10 and 20-player raids, greater than 1,000 new quests, new race and sophistication combos, a brand new Skyborne race, and extra. Nuthals and Zierhut say there are a number of key options they’re most looking forward to followers to expertise.
“I am so excited for our gamers to uncover all of our new gadgets,” Nuthals says. “All of the dungeons and raids have had an itemization move. There’s a lot new to discover. I am actually anxious for our gamers to get in there and discover the world, discover all of the cool little nooks and crannies, discover their actually cool loot and simply have a good time.
[And] the factor I believe I am most enthusiastic about with our raids are the raid sizes. We’ll have Barrow Deeps which might be our 10-player raid. We’ll have the Hyjal Summit, which might be 20, after which Onyxia might be 40. I believe the factor that will get me most enthusiastic about that’s getting people to seek out social teams and associates to fill these teams up.”
World of Warcraft: Eternally’s New Tenting Function Defined
“The factor I am most enthusiastic about is the tenting function,” Zierhut says. “So you might bear in mind in World of Warcraft previously, you would put down a cooking hearth and you would sit and cook dinner your meals. The cooking hearth has now develop into the essential campfire. And whilst you’re sitting there ready, as a result of it’s a must to sit there for a minute, one other participant [could walk] by they usually add to it. And now you might be [all] there and also you’ve obtained to attend a minute you are like, ‘Hey, what quest are you engaged on? Oh, we’re engaged on the identical quest. Hey, how about we group up?’ And that is the second the friendships, relationships, and guilds are born. And I am actually enthusiastic about what that is going to do for our recreation.”
Whereas World of Warcraft: Eternally will embody many new updates for gamers to discover, Zierhut and Nuthals say it received’t stray too removed from what gamers love in regards to the unique.
“We’re not going to make large modifications to the lore,” Zierhut says. “We’re not going to vary the best way the world feels, however we are able to possibly have a barely totally different sequence of what’s occurring. It does not contradict what was in Traditional, however it’s a bit bit totally different. So we’ve got room for a barely totally different story. No one has to fret about issues with the timeline.”
“Our pillars are very common, core to the expertise of taking part in Traditional WoW,” Nuthals says. “That’s at all times what we’re pondering of within the again of our head. It is exhilarating to see what our gamers are going to do once they get into it and play it.”
World of Warcraft: Eternally launches November 4.
Michael Peyton
Senior Editorial Director of Occasions & Leisure
Michael Peyton is the Senior Editorial Director of Occasions & Leisure at IGN, main leisure content material and protection of tentpole occasions together with IGN Reside, San Diego Comedian Con, gamescom, and IGN Fan Fest. He is spent 20 years working within the video games and leisure trade, and his adventures have taken him all over the place from the Oscars to Japan to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Observe him on Bluesky @MichaelPeyton