Senior Game Director Ion Hazzikostas answered community-submitted questions during the latest Q&A in the Discord Portal Room server and here’s a recap of the most important highlights!
Interview Highlights
- World of Warcraft’s 8-week patch cadence is flexible and may change based on community feedback.
- Blizzard would like to conduct more Q&As with devs beyond the usual public faces.
- Gathering and crafting Professions should become easier to understand in The Last Titan expansion.
- Blizzard admitted they reacted too slowly to PvP MMR issues in Season 2.
- Accessibility improvements are coming in Patch 12.1 in the form of sound notifications for gaining or losing buffs. Some useful addon functions will be restored.
- Collector’s Bounty will return, but only occasionally so that farming old content remains worth it outside of the event.
- Blizzard wants more reps to be Warband-wide, though, backfilling old systems remains a very tedious and manual process.
- The upcoming 12.1 storyline is connected to the wider Xal’atath narrative instead of being an unrelated detour.
- Discord integration begins with in-game chat in 12.1 and could expand into more community features later.
- More Remix are planned as a way to experience past expansions at an accelerated rate.
- Blizzard wants Mythic+, raids, delves, and solo activities to provide more independent progression paths without forcing players into unwanted content.
- Updates to PvP talents are planned in the future, but the current focus is to bring more players into PvP.
- Unintentionally removed rewards may return in the future. Exclusive stuff such as Challenge Mode and Mage Tower appearances are likely to remain exclusive.
- Housing may eventually interact with professions, although Blizzard wants to avoid bonuses that could make housing feel like a chore.
- Archaeology’s “exploration and lore fantasy” could take on a new shape in the future.
- Class changes must feel meaningful without changing the spec fantasy too much. Returning players must be able to recognize it.
- More info about WoW’s future is expected to be unveiled at BlizzCon 2026 in September.
