Associate Design Director Maria Hamilton, Associate Game Director Morgan Day, and Cinematic Narrative Director Terran Gregory sit down and chat about how World of Warcraft: The War Within came to be what it is we see today.
World of Warcraft The War Within’s release is just around the bend, and today, we get a behind-the-scenes deep dive into the lore and world-building that took place to create it all. It has almost been 20 years since the original World of Warcraft was created, and the developers are trying to build upon the successes of the previous expansions to help curate the Worldsoul Saga. With a slew of accessibility features and new ideas, there is no shortage of new content to play through, but the major difference between the expansion we see today and the ones from the past is the fact that there is a saga taking place rather than a standalone expac.
Since the dawn of World of Warcraft’s creation, fans only got one expansion that built upon the predecessor to a degree. With the Worldsoul Saga, seeds will be planted from The War Within and will begin to make sense as we make our way through the entirety of the saga. Narrative Director Terran Gregory states,
“I believe that The War Within is a great leap forward in our ambitions to create a compelling narrative, bring our characters to the forefront, and really open the first chapter in the next pivotal moment of World of Warcraft that will set the stakes for the story that will unfold throughout the Worldsoul Saga.”
The narrative of the Worldsoul Saga was curated with the drive to bring the best of Warcraft to the forefront by investing in both the world and the story. Gregory believes that the story and world within the MMORPG are really what brings the appeal to World of Warcraft and that the world is made up of our characters moving through small stories, and bigger stories, and investing in the characters around us.
One of those major characters the developers are excited to introduce is Xal'atath, also known as the Harbinger. In previous expansions, the devs agree that they didn’t introduce a new villain in a way that felt “organic or compelling”, but this time around, anyone who played a Shadow Priest in Legion is well aware of what Xal'atath brings to the table. The new villain has quite the story that will begin to unfold as we make our way through the saga, and the developers say they are excited to see the reception from fans later on down the line.
