A brand-new, legendary story arc

“When it comes to the story and setting, we’re kicking off a new trilogy we call the Worldsoul Saga, and The War Within is a chance to get in on the ground floor,” says Senior Game Director Ion Hazzikostas. The Worldsoul Saga is a three-part story arc that will take you to the heart of Azeroth and beyond. You don’t need to know all the lore from the past 20 years to enjoy this story, but if you do, this will feel like a culmination of threads that we never completely resolved. “We’ve presented a cool video that sets up the story, in case you haven’t played recently!” Associate Design Director Maria Hamilton excitedly shares.

Production Director Michael Bybee adds, “I love that The War Within is kicking off a three-part storyline that doesn’t require you to know all the stuff that has come before, and you know we’re going to make it worth your while with incredible storytelling, compelling characters, and an absolutely beautiful world for players to explore.”

Play the way you want (really!)

“The launch of The War Within is an incredibly exciting time for World of Warcraft, and the game has never been as open to as many different playstyles as it is today,” says Ion. “The epic, massively multiplayer raids and battlegrounds that defined the game in its early days are still going strong, refined through years of experience, but that’s just one way to play WoW. Solo adventurers or those who need flexibility in their gaming time can dive into the new Delves feature — bite-size, action-packed adventures with a deep difficulty progression, which you can tackle solo or with a few friends.”

Whether you enjoy social play or playing solo, PvE, or PvP, gathering and crafting, or simply love collecting mounts, pets, and different transmogs (visual customization) for your characters, The War Within has been built for you! As Digital Marketing Manager for World of Warcraft (and Meme Curator) Jess Downey puts it,  “World of Warcraft is a multifaceted game. If you want to raid and gear up, do it. If you want to ride around on a dragon, do it. There are so many avenues in WoW to find fulfilment and joy – you have an entire world to find yourself in and endless possibilities for connections that could last a lifetime.”

Be the champion

As a champion of Azeroth, you will face challenges and make decisions that will shape the fate of Azeroth and beyond. “Azeroth is a land where you can be a hero; a world where you can do anything,” adds Assistant Lead Quest Designer Mark Kelada. “It’s metal and melodramatic and emotional and overwhelming at various points of the experience, but at the end of the day, you are a hero in a fantasy world with larger-than-life characters and world-changing moments.” Mark explains that The War Within is the start of a new adventure in a brand-new land, Khaz Algar, where our help is needed. “What relationships will we forge? What enemies will we slay? What people will we help? We get to become the hero, the helper, and the friend throughout the adventure in Khaz Algar.”

Express yourself

The War Within offers you more ways to customize your character and show off your personality. This expansion introduces Hero Talents, an evergreen form of character progression for each class specialization that introduces new powers and class fantasies. You can also collect new mounts, pets, toys, transmog items, and titles that reflect your style and achievements.

Another feature introduced in The War Within is Warbands, which encompass all your characters together around a campfire upon login – then in-game, they share items, collections, reputation progress, and even share a bank. “I’m looking forward to trying out a bunch of new classes in The War Within now that I can acquire transmog for my whole account with any character that I play,” said producer George Velev. “I’m gonna try matching my transmog to my characters’ Hero Talent trees and make my whole Warband match in theme.” Associate Principal User Researcher Nikki Crenshaw says “We’ve added a ton of quality-of-life updates through Warbands that make playing and decking out multiple characters easier than ever, and we have some of (based on our player feedback!) the most visually appealing zones we’ve had in World of Warcraft in this expansion!”

Explore a vast, beautiful world

Ah, yes, our art! Azeroth is a world of adventure, and The War Within will take you deep beneath the surface of the planet. Though that sounds like it would feel claustrophobic, each zone is incredibly vast, all with beautifully developed landscapes and cultures. They are so big, in fact, that you will still be using our flying mounts just as much as you do above the surface! “The art team put so much love and care into building a compelling world to explore, and we are excited for players to delve deep into the mysteries of Azeroth!” said Associate Art Director Tina Wang.

World of Warcraft is a community of millions of players, and as Jess Downey says: “The best time to start is when we’re all experiencing new content together.”

World of Warcraft is designed to run on a wide variety of PC hardware configurations. For reference, you can find the minimum specifications here, where you’ll see the requirements include 8GB of RAM, Windows 7, and a 1280×720 display — I’m feeling confident you can come play with us.

You can try World of Warcraft for free through our Free Trial; choose your faction, race, class, and level up to 20 in our last expansion, Dragonflight, to see what you think!  We have a handy guide to help you on your way. If you’re ready to get in the fight, World of Warcraft: The War Within is available now!