Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct in Brief

Blizzard Entertainment has announced a host of news to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise, including remasters of the first two RTS games. Warcraft Rumble will also be released on PC, and World of Warcraft will get player housing with the next expansion (Midnight).

Warcraft, one of Blizzard Entertainment's most important franchises, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, while World of Warcraft is celebrating its 20th anniversary and Hearthstone, which is set in the Warcraft universe, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. In the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct, Blizzard Entertainment announced how the franchise will continue - and illustrated this with emotional stories from the community. German MMO site Buffed.de also picked up on the theme with a collection of feel-good memories. According to Blizzard, the Warcraft franchise has more than 254 million players across all Warcraft games.

To start with, the RTS classics have been remastered in a collection (Battle Chest). It includes Warcraft: Orcs & Humans Remastered, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness Remastered, and Warcraft III: Reforged. Both the classic game and the remastered version (improved graphics, controls and interface) can be played in their respective remastered editions. Warcraft III: Reforged, which was released in 2020, has also been updated to version 2.0, which reworks more aspects of the graphics and makes other improvements. However, no new Warcraft game has been announced.

World of Warcraft will get the long-awaited Player Housing feature with the next expansion, Midnight. More on this will be revealed in 2025, perhaps at gamescom. World of Warcraft: The War Within, the current expansion, will receive the next content patch (11.1) in early 2025, which will add Undermine, the underground capital of the goblins, as well as two delves, a dungeon, a raid, and a PvP arena. World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Classic will be released in 2025, and new World of Warcraft Classic realms are launching soon, along with the Hardcore realm.

Hearthstone will also get three expansions in 2025: the Emerald Dream, the return to Un'Goro Crater, and a time-based expansion featuring Chromie. A mini-set with Starcraft heroes and cards will be released in January 2025. Finally, Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed that Warcraft Rumble, the action RTS currently available only on mobile devices, will be coming to PC. The PC beta will begin on 10 December.

The Warcraft Direct was followed by a recording of a Warcraft concert that took place at the end of September at the Théâtre de Beaulieu in Lausanne, Switzerland.

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