We’ve spent a lot of time playing World of Warcraft over the years. We’ve leveled up characters, gone on raids, explored dungeons, and even just hung out in places like Orgrimmar watching other players.
It’s a huge time commitment. As you get older and have more responsibilities, it becomes harder to spend as much time in the game as you used to.
We talked to Holly Longdale, WoW’s executive producer, about how the next expansion aims to make things easier for solo players who don’t have a lot of time to play. While World of Warcraft has always been a multiplayer game, it can be challenging if you prefer playing by yourself.
The new features in the upcoming expansion, like Follower Dungeons, NPC companions, and Warbands, are designed to help casual players access content more easily. We asked if WoW was moving away from its MMO roots with these changes.
“At its core, WoW is still a multiplayer game, and that’s our priority,” says Longdale. “But over time, we’ve noticed that not everyone can dedicate hours every day or week to the game.” Blizzard looked at player data and realized that solo players, who often focus on leveling content, haven’t received as much attention compared to raiders or PvPers.
The new expansion, The War Within, aims to change that by giving solo players more opportunities to try different kinds of content. “We haven’t served them well in the past, so it’s time to do better,” explains Longdale. “We want to give them a chance to do activities like Delve with a family member or friend. It’s a valid way to play, and we want to support it.”
As someone who’s been playing WoW for a long time and now has limited time, I’m glad to hear that the game is becoming more accessible for players like me.
World of Warcraft is about to enter its third decade, and it’s great to see that Blizzard is recognizing that many players have jobs and responsibilities that limit their game time.
If you’re excited about the next steps for World of Warcraft, our guide to the release date of WoW: The War Within will give you all the information you need. We also had the opportunity to preview the expansion in our WoW: The War Within Alpha preview, so check it out to see what we thought!