Could World of Warcraft: Forever one day come to consoles? Well, the technical answer would be a resounding yes, but it all depends on whether or whether or not Blizzard wants that to happen.
Console gamers have been waiting for an official console port of some form of World of Warcraft for the past 20 years. (In fact, some fans are putting matters into their own hands by porting the game to the SEGA Dreamcast!) Unfortunately, at least when it comes to retail, there were no plans for the main retail branch to come to console as of last year.
With that said, World of Warcraft: Forever is launching with full gamepad support, making the game extremely playable on Steam Deck, other PC gaming handhelds, and PCs with a gamepad plugged in. While some gamers will scream at you for doing so, the game is now very playable with a controller.
In a very lengthy interview with GamesRadar, executive producer & vice president of WoW Holly Longdale hinted that World of Warcraft: Forever could come to consoles one day. “What you just described is really what we’re after,” she said. “Play it wherever you want and, at some point, on whatever you want.”
Longdale explained that “the first leg of that journey is getting gamepads working really well with World of Warcraft”. While the new game isn’t as immediately complex as the main Retail build has become, they explained that “Forever was the perfect place to start”.
“Looking at where things are going when we hear about Project Helix et cetera, I think platforms will be a bit more ubiquitous,” says Longdale. “Honestly, we just want to be able to play it anywhere. We’ve seen people getting it working on the ROG Ally X.”
While gamepads immediately make players scream “console port”, the reality is that having gamepads as an option is something that players everywhere want. WoW controller mods and add-ons have existed for well over a decade, and they’ve only improved over time. Even without them, fans would be booting the game through Steam and using Steam Input to play with controller. Gamers simply want the option.
“I think just doing some of the work we’re doing on gamepad [support] is going to give players a lot of flexibility that I think goes beyond consoles,” Longdale admits. While they won’t outright say that WoW is coming to console eventually, it does hint that discussions are finally being had.
World of Warcraft on console has been a dream of many. As a cross-platform gamer, I would love for WoW to be more accessible and have more players from other platforms. Additionally, if I don’t want to sit on my PC, I can chill on the couch and play the game on Xbox or PlayStation. Hell, bring the MMO to Nintendo Switch 2 and let me play outside on my steps when Summer rolls back around.
In an industry as troubled as the games industry is, does it really make sense to still be turning away from players? There are potential WoW players on console, and they’ve been waiting a really long time for it.
