Blizzard just wrapped up its Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct, a nearly hour-long presentation featuring numerous updates from across the Warcraft franchise – almost like a miniature BlizzCon. We heard about World of Warcraft’s next major update, a tease for its next expansion, new updates for World of Warcraft Classic, some long-awaited remasters, and planned updates for both Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble.
If you missed the Direct, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here’s everything Blizzard showed at its Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct today:
World of Warcraft: The War Within next major update unveiled
First up, retail World of Warcraft, which is currently near the end of the first major story beat of the expansion The War Within. Today, we got a look at the first major patch of the expansion, entitled “Undermine(d)”, which will take players into the underground goblin capital of Undermine for the first time ever.
The patch, which is planned for early next year, will include a new customizable vehicle, new story, a new arena map, a new dungeon, two new delves, a new raid, and a number of other updates. You can read more about everything planned for 11.1, Undermine(d), right here.
World of Warcraft: Midnight will feature player housing at last
At the very end of the presentation, Blizzard gave us a surprising “one more thing” tease of its next planned expansion: Midnight. Though Midnight is still a long ways away, today we learned that it will include a long-requested feature: player housing. No details were provided on this in today’s presentation, but we’re expecting to hear more late next summer when Blizzard fully unveils Midnight to the world.
World of Warcraft: Classic is headed to Pandaria
As expected, World of Warcraft Classic continues apace through the expansions, with Blizzard announcing that it will be moving to Mists of Pandaria in 2025. But for those who might be frustrated with Classic seemingly racing to catch up with retail through World of Warcraft’s expansion history, Blizzard is also dropping new “vanilla” Classic realms on November 21. The realms will include fresh PvE, PvP, and Hardcore servers, all of which will slowly progress through Classic’s cadence of updates, with the Molten Core raid opening a few weeks after their launch. In addition, the PvE and PvP realms (sorry, Hardcore) will eventually move into The Burning Crusade Classic, starting the expansion progression all over again.
Warcraft I and II are being remastered
To kick off today’s presentation, Blizzard announced it would be shadow-dropping remasters of both Warcraft I and II today. They’re remasters, not remakes, and will include fully remastered graphics as well as a number of quality of life features. Warcraft II specifically will include multiplayer, and all legacy custom maps will be compatible and playable.
In addition, Blizzard is releasing a new patch for Warcraft III: Reforged that includes a graphics overhaul and various other quality of life changes that will hopefully improve the experience. And all three games will be available as part of a Battle Chest, with flexible pricing based on which games you already have in your library.
Hearthstone is getting a crossover with…Starcraft?!
Over in the tavern, we got a look at Hearthstone’s upcoming roadmap for 2025. And Hearthstone is starting the new year with a crossover with another Blizzard property: Starcraft.
2025 will start with a mini set themed around StarCraft, featuring themes and powers unique to all three StarCraft factions: Protoss, Zerg, and Terran. This will be followed by the first 2025 expansion, themed around the Emerald Dream, followed by a return to Un’Goro Crater for The Shrouded City expansion. Hearthstone will wrap up the year in a time-themed expansion called The Heroes of Time, featuring everyone’s favorite time traveler, Chromie.
Warcraft Rumble is coming to PC
Warcraft Rumble will soon introduce new split faction leaders in a new update. These leaders belong to two families simultaneously, instead of just one. Newly-added split faction leaders will include Orgrim Doomhammer, Malfurion Stormrage, and Anub’arak, while other characters such as Sylvanas will gain a second faction in addition to their current one.
But most importantly, mobile game Warcraft Rumble is celebrating its first birthday by breaking free of the confines of our phones. Blizzard announced today that it’s coming to PC soon, with a beta launching on December 10th.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
