Blizzard’s iconic Warcraft series may be most known for the brilliant, genre-defining MMORPG World of Warcraft, but the series is considerably more than that.
Prior to WoW, the series was an RTS, and it’s since been a card game in the form of Hearthstone. At one point, there was even a big budget movie adaptation (which I actually still love) although it was a considerable flop for the brand.
In a new interview, World of Warcraft executive producer and vice president Holly Longdale claimed that the Warcraft IP is “underutilised” and needs “evolving” to become more “approachable” to the masses.
Speaking to The Game Business, Longdale claimed that Blizzard needs to work to make sure that the Warcraft IP is more than an MMORPG, but a brand that has something for everyone. (Blizzard did recently kill a Warcraft mobile game, just saying.)
“It’s a fantastic IP. In my humble opinion, it’s been underutilized and I just want to bring it to as many people as possible,” Longdale said. “And that means evolving what Warcraft means, what it is, and where it’s going. We want it to be approachable.”
Longdale explained that Blizzard is trying to come up with a “third space” for Warcraft in an almost metaverse-like way. The Blizzard executive explained they “can’t define what this means exactly” but they want “people to come in, hang out and have birthdays, weddings, raids, grand adventures, play with their friends, meet new friends … all the things that World of Warcraft has been good at for over 20 years.”
The executive explained that Blizzard won’t stop doing what fans love about World of Warcraft “but at the same time, we have a bigger vision than simply being an MMORPG.” However, explained the goal for the future is to give the game more “broader” appeal.
This certainly makes sense considering recent additions to the game. While World of Warcraft was once seen as a more hardcore MMO by the masses, features like the addition of player housing give more accessible, fun options to those who don’t want to spend their time doing high-tier raids.
Nevertheless, it is daunting to see Blizzard push to expand the Warcraft IP after its past failures. Outside of the release of Hearthstone, which was released 12 years ago, many attempts to push the series to a wider audience have simply not caught on.
Right now, World of Warcraft is in the midst of a trilogy of expansions with Midnight just around the corner. As the ongoing Worldsoul Saga continues, Blizzard has promised that a “lot of death” is coming for the game’s cast of characters, which certainly doesn’t seem like broad appeal to me.
