Blizzard Entertainment has announced that the next expansion for World of Warcraft, its popular yet controversial MMORPG, will be announced on April 19th. In an official update, Warcraft general manager John Hight said that the team is “excited to show you what we’ve been working on and where your adventures in Azeroth will go next.”
The company is also preparing the first mobile title in the Warcraft Universe – more details on that are slated for May. In the meantime, the MMO’s latest update Eternity’s End (which went live on February 23rd) will bring an end to the Shadowlands saga.
Despite the excitement that a new expansion announcement usually brings, Blizzard Entertainment and World of Warcraft have seen better days. Activision-Blizzard has been rocked by numerous controversies relating to toxic work culture, crunch, harassment and so on, leading to lawsuits and high-profile departures. Meanwhile, the MMO’s most recent expansion Shadowlands has faced criticism from fans for its problematic story twists, gameplay systems and lackluster content updates.
Activision-Blizzard was acquired this past January by Microsoft with the deal expected to close next year. How this will influence the direction of the WoW in the future remains to be seen so stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.