Blizzard Entertainment has put an end to the latest wave of speculation suggesting World of Warcraft might be heading to consoles. According to game director Ion Hazzikostas, if such a project were underway, fans wouldn’t be kept in the dark.
World of Warcraft, the MMORPG that has been on the market for a long time, is preparing to release its next major expansion, World of Warcraft: Midnight, which will rework the class systems, simplify the buying and selling, and eliminate the need for players to install third-party add-ons. But, as Hazzikostas explained on the Unshackled Fury podcast, these radical changes will not lead to a console version.
“To be completely transparent, there’s no reason for us to hide anything about this,” Hazzikostas said. “If we were working to bring WoW to consoles — or any other platforms — you’d know. We’d be upfront and say, ‘Yes, this is something we’re actively pursuing, and it’s going to take time to get there.’”
Rather, Hazzikostas stressed that Blizzard is still primarily focused on PCs. The work with Midnight is about making it more accessible and legible for players, not a port. Combat rotations will change, endgame systems will be more intuitive for players, and a squad of systems will be introduced to replace third-party mods, all to make World of Warcraft more accessible without sacrificing complexity.
Rumors Fueled by Microsoft’s Acquisition
Interest in WoW on consoles has grown louder in part since 2023, when Microsoft completed its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Because Microsoft is rapidly collapsing the distinction between PCs and consoles, many fans believed that the fact that WoW would join the Xbox ecosystem has given the acquisition meaning.
The rumors intensified recently after reports suggested the next generation of Xbox hardware will essentially function as a PC capable of running Windows and apps like Battle.net natively. That detail, combined with Blizzard’s simplification of certain systems, led some to believe the developer was quietly preparing for a console transition.
Adding fuel to the fire, former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra made a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter) hinting that the studio’s decision to eliminate add-ons might be a sign of a more “casual” console-friendly future for WoW.
A PC Legacy That Still Leads
Regardless of all the speculation, World of Warcraft stays true to its PC foundation. Since it arrived in 2004, the game has defined how we think of an MMORPG by changing the definition of the genre and keeping millions of players from around the world playing.
While Midnight has some quality-of-life changes that could, hypothetically, make it easier to convert into a console version, Hazzikostas noted that this is not on their roadmap. “The intent is to improve the game to easy to play for beginners and returners, not to redesign for controllers and living-room play.”
That being said, Blizzard is not ruling it out. Other MMOs — Final Fantasy XIV and New World, for instance — have definitely made the cross-platform MMORPG work, which means it is possible. If we ever see Blizzard take that step, the systems that we see introduced in Midnight would certainly facilitate that approach.
What’s Next for Azeroth
Okay, so Blizzard is working on some cool stuff for their games. Dataminers found hints of a new premium currency for player housing, which could be big for WoW. Also, that super rare Gilded Brutosaur mount might be back in the store soon.
We still don’t have a date for World of Warcraft: Midnight, but people think it might come out early next year, maybe in February. The good news for PC gamers is that WoW isn’t going anywhere, and there’s no secret console version.