Summary
After the success of Dragonflight, Blizzard seems to be changing its entire approach toWorld of Warcraftgoing forward. Instead of simply announcing the next expansion, the studio chose to announce the next three expansions at BlizzCon 2023. That means that players know exactly what is in store forWorld of Warcraft’s future, which is great to see. However, there is a chance that announcing all of this future content may hurt some of it in the long run.
Now that playersknow whereWorld of Warcraftis going, they may not be as surprised by the specific plot beats of each expansion. On top of that, players may be more inclined to skip an expansion that does not interest them because they know that the next one will. And since the story has already been laid out for them, they will probably not miss much. While it is way too early to actually say that these announcements hurt the game, they may have at least put some of the expansions in a tough spot.
WoW’s Roadmap Explained
Going into BlizzCon 2023,World of Warcraftfanswere anticipating the announcement of the next expansion. Dragonflight had just gotten what was believed to be the final major update, so all eyes were on where the studio would take the game next. But instead of simply announcing one expansion, Blizzard announced the next three.
After Dragonflight,World of Warcraftplayers will be treated to The War Within. This expansion will take players underneath Azeroth in a story that will kick offthe brand-new Worldsoul Saga. Once that concludes, players will be sent back to Quel’Thalas in Midnight. And after that, they will be returning to Northrend in The Last Titan. While the exact specifics of each expansion are yet to be revealed, the concepts alone have gotten the fanbase pretty excited about the game’s future.
Knowing the Future of WoW May Also Hurt It
It is great to see all this content looming on the horizon. However, announcing it all this early may actually do more harm than good toWorld of Warcraft. Now that players know the future,the direction ofWoWis no longer a secret. So, players will pretty much know how the first two expansions will end, because they know where the following ones will take them. There may still be some secrets in store, but the overarching narrative has mostly been laid out for them.
Along with that, players may be more inclined to skip expansions if they know what comes next. Previously, no one really knew what was coming aftercontroversial expansions like Cataclysmor Shadowlands. Now, if The War Within does not excite them, then they know that Midnight is just around the corner. That knowledge may mean that players hold off until the more interesting expansion plays out. Couple that with the fact they know where the story is going, and some may even hold out until it all ends with The Last Titan.
It feels like there is a bit stacked up against these next three expansions, but that does not mean they are dead on arrival. If Blizzard is able to deliver three fantastic experiences filled with things to explore, then players will likely flock to them. As long as they can maintain the quality of Dragonflight rather than repeating the same mistakes as Shadowlands, then the studio may have nothing to worry about. Even if the story has been mostly revealed, the MCU’s Infinity Saga was also laid out, and that worked out splendidly for Marvel Studios.
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World of Warcraft is an incredibly successful MMORPG that has been going strong for almost two decades. It’s one of the highest-grossing franchises in history and is widely considered the most popular MMORPG ever made.
