World of Warcraft is, at long last, getting player housing. Blizzard confirmed during its recent Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct that the long-asked-for feature will be part of the MMORPG’s future Midnight expansion, saving the biggest crowd-pleasing announcement of the livestream for last.
In a short teaser video, a Death Knight walks into a nondescript house. Inside, the walls are adorned with the head of the dragon Onyxia, various weapons and shields, a miniature Goblin shredder mech, and more. The weary adventurer puts down their sword, settles into a chair by the fire, and takes a sip from a mug adorned with the words “Home Sweet Home.”
That’s about all there is to go on, but GameSpot did get the chance to chat with WoW game director Ion Hazzikostas prior to the anniversary livestream about the big news. He confirmed the feature has been in the works for several years.
“I’ve definitely given some cagey and evasive answers about ‘housing ever?’ while knowing secretly it was going to come to pass,” Hazzikostas said. “We’ve known we’ve wanted to do it for real for some time. I think figuring out the how and when and making sure we can deliver something that’s going to meet our players’ expectations and exceed them, that’s all the tricky parts to it. What we’re announcing this week is a teaser, a hint, the slimmest of previews, just letting people know, ‘Hey, it’s coming as part of Midnight.'”
He said much more information will come over the course of the next year, but that the team is excited to have it out in the open so they can start to hear what players want from digital housing in Azeroth.
“Just excited to get that news out there and to begin a conversation so we can start hearing from players what they’re hoping to see from a World of Warcraft housing system,” Hazzikostas said. “Double-check it matches what we are currently cooking but also gives us some time to pivot and make sure we deliver what players are hoping for.”
During BlizzCon 2023, Blizzard announced the next three WoW expansions all at once and said it hoped to start delivering expansions at a faster pace than its normal two-year expansion cycle. According to Blizzard’s newly revealed 2025 WoW content roadmap, Midnight is not coming next year, though more details about the expansion will be revealed next summer.
Hazzikostas noted that even though Midnight isn’t coming next year and players will still be playing The War Within in 2025, the team is dedicated to keeping the game’s update cadence going at a steady pace while still getting a full-fledged new expansion ready “in a timely manner.”
Players housing in WoW was just one of many Warcraft-related announcements to come out of the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Stream. Blizzard additionally announced remastered versions of Warcraft 1 and 2 (available now), a StarCraft crossover for Hearthstone, and what’s next for WoW Classic.