The highly anticipated World of Warcraft: Midnight expansion, scheduled for release early next year, is set to revitalize a often-forgotten corner of classic Azeroth: the Blood Elf lands of Quel`thalas, giving them a modern and immersive redesign.
Blizzard unveiled details about WoW`s 11th expansion, the second part of its three-expansion Worldsoul Saga trilogy, at Gamescom 2025. A key reveal was that two of Midnight`s four new zones are actually classic areas rebuilt entirely from scratch, with a reimagined Silvermoon City serving as the expansion`s central hub. Blizzard also shared insights into other upcoming features, including a new optional open-world system called Prey, an additional playable Allied Race, a third Demon Hunter specialization, and the full arrival of player housing.
GameSpot had the opportunity to speak with several Blizzard developers, including WoW senior game director Ion Hazzikostas, associate design director Maria Hamilton, and associate game director Paul Kubit. They provided deeper insights into Midnight, discussing the studio`s approach to revamping older zones, the expansion`s narrative direction, the gameplay of the new Demon Hunter specialization, and much more.
Quel`thalas Reborn: A Modern Transformation
Two of the expansion`s new zones will be familiar to anyone who has ever created a Blood Elf character in WoW. In Midnight, Eversong Woods, the area previously known as the Ghostlands, and the former raid Zul`Aman have all been completely re-envisioned as contemporary questing zones, complete with all-new visual assets.
When Silvermoon City and its surrounding territories were initially added in 2007 as part of The Burning Crusade expansion, a cumbersome loading screen separated these new zones from the rest of Azeroth. While this became a common trend in later expansions that added new continents, it always felt peculiar in this specific instance, given that the Blood Elf lands of Quel`thalas were geographically connected to the Eastern Kingdoms via the Eastern Plaguelands zone.
With Midnight, Eversong Woods, Zul`Aman, and Silvermoon City will finally become an integrated part of the Eastern Kingdoms—requiring no loading screen. Players will have the freedom to fly, walk, or ride directly to these new areas from anywhere in the Eastern Kingdoms. Hamilton explained Blizzard`s methodology for rebuilding Quel`thalas and its environs:
“Most of the scars of the Scourge invasion have been healed,” Hamilton stated. “Time has passed. Blood Elves like their gardens tidy and their magical trees beautiful, so a lot of those scars have faded. Because we needed to do a transition from the forest into Zul`Aman proper, into an actual zone of Zul`Aman, we needed to expand there a little bit as well, because we needed room for the mountains to become mountainous without just suddenly being sheer… There was some size adjustment there, but the intent was to make the zone feel as recognizable as possible. Things are generally, relatively, proportionally in the places you expect them to be. It should be familiar to the players that are quite familiar with the zone, it should feel just like home. It`s just a little bit prettier looking, a little bit nicer graphics and graphical upgrades for the assets. We pretty much said, `If we could reimagine it in a modern setting and connect it appropriately to the rest of the world and now allow access to Zul`Aman, how would we do that, what would we need to do?`”
Silvermoon City itself will be larger, Hamilton confirmed, but will still feature all the iconic elements players cherish. New additions include the Sanctum of Light and a Memorial Garden. Despite serving as a hub for both Horde and Alliance during Midnight, it remains a distinctly Horde city; Alliance players will only be able to access specific sections, with much of Silvermoon remaining off-limits. Several of Quel`thalas`s most iconic areas, such as Windrunner Spire, Magisters` Terrace (a dungeon introduced in The Burning Crusade), and Murder Row, will now be incorporated as dungeons.
Delving Into The Void
The two remaining zones for the expansion, Harandar and the Voidstorm, are entirely new. Many players initially believed Harandar, a primordial forest where the roots of the World Trees converge, would appear in The War Within expansion, but it will instead play a crucial role in Midnight. It is here that players will uncover more about the Haranir, a new playable Allied Race first introduced during The War Within.
In a departure from WoW`s more recent expansions, the way players experience Midnight`s story will be somewhat different. Every player will commence the story campaign in Eversong Woods, shortly after the events depicted in Midnight`s opening cinematic. Following this, they will choose whether to tackle Harandar or Zul`Aman next. The zone not initially chosen can then be explored, before players proceed to the enigmatic Voidstorm for the story`s climatic finale.
While Blizzard did not reveal extensive details about the mysterious final zone, Hamilton noted that a significant part of Midnight`s narrative centers on the heroes of Azeroth attempting to find a way to access the Voidstorm, which serves as the main villain Xal`atath`s operational base. Hamilton described the zone as unlike anything players have encountered before—a world saturated in Void energies where even its native creatures are locked in a perpetual struggle of mutual consumption. The Voidstorm will also feature low-gravity areas, introducing unique gameplay alterations to WoW`s traditional mechanics.
A New Void-Infused DPS Specialization
Fitting with the expansion`s overarching Void theme, a third Demon Hunter specialization is officially making its debut with Midnight. This new spec, named Devourer, sees the class harness the power of the very forces they typically fight against. Devourer is described as a “mid-ranged” DPS specialization that uses Void energy to decimate enemies.
Kubit clarified that Devourer players won`t be simply casting spells from maximum range, but he did confirm that a significant portion of the spec`s rotation can be executed at a distance. The core gameplay loop for the Devourer involves players entering Void Metamorphosis and then striving to remain in this powerful form for as long as possible to maximize their damage output. Kubit emphasized, “This is not going to be playing like a 100% classic ranged class. You have the DH [Demon Hunter] mobility, which is going to encourage you to move around, to be jumping into the fracas and melee, and then jumping back out again, moving around to collect soul shards and the like.”
Some of the Devourer`s key abilities include Void Ray, a linear attack similar to the Demon Hunter`s existing Eye Beams ability, as well as potent finisher abilities like Collapsing Star and Reap, which consume soul fragments upon use. In a highly anticipated synergy, Void Elves will gain the ability to become Demon Hunters with the launch of Midnight.
The Prey System: Hunt or Be Hunted
While The War Within introduced a new form of instance solo content in the shape of Delves, Midnight aims to invigorate the game`s open world with a new opt-in system called Prey, where players will actively pursue targets and, in turn, find themselves being hunted.
Players can select from three different difficulty levels: Normal, Hard, and Nightmare. Kubit explained that the Normal difficulty is designed for players who wish to experience the system`s narrative, which involves working alongside Astalor Bloodsworn to track down “shady” characters. On Normal difficulty, the challenge of these hunts will be consistent with players` typical experience from WoW`s open-world content.
Those seeking a greater challenge, opting for Hard or Nightmare, will face enemies with more affixes and complex mechanics, culminating in a secluded final confrontation with their target, reminiscent of the pinnacle bosses found in The War Within`s Delves.
Progressing through these hunts will reward players with various cosmetic items, such as mounts, titles, and housing decor items. Crucially, this system will not grant additional raw player power, ensuring it remains an optional, flavor-focused activity. Hazzikostas stated, “We`re not looking to force people into content that they`re not interested in, but we`ve heard from many of our players who really enjoy spending time in the world and exploring and questing there, that the experience can sometimes feel flatter than they`d prefer. This is a really flavorful, engaging way to add an extra layer for people who want that.”
Prioritizing Player Approachability
Midnight also serves as another significant opportunity for Blizzard to continue enhancing and refining the game`s user interface, a key focus since the substantial UI overhaul introduced with 2022`s Dragonflight. Many tools players currently rely on external add-ons for, such as damage meters and boss timers, will be natively integrated into the game itself with Midnight`s release.
Hazzikostas pointed out that players have been utilizing add-ons to address various in-game problems or encounter mechanics for nearly two decades, prompting the development team to integrate some of these essential tools into the baseline experience. Providing players with these additional tools is only one part of the solution; Hazzikostas added that Blizzard is also taking a closer look at the game`s mechanics and their visual clarity to ensure players never feel obligated to resort to external add-ons to succeed.
“Whereas we started to shift in our philosophy over the course of The War Within, I think Midnight is going to be our first expansion that really puts approachability front and center in all aspects of its encounter and class design,” Hazzikostas affirmed.
The recent introduction of an in-game rotation assistant tool, and even a single-button rotation option, are prime examples of Blizzard`s newfound philosophy. Blizzard aims to make further improvements to both features in the future, and they noted that the single-button assistant, in particular, has been a major success, despite initial negative reactions from some segments of the WoW community.
“Honestly, it`s been awesome,” Hazzikostas said. “It`s really met, and in some ways exceeded, our expectations. The idea of the single-button assistant was definitely controversial in the community leading up to it. There were some players saying `Well, this is just dumbing down the game, what`s the point of skill?` And what we`ve seen is no, WoW still has a very high skill cap. The people pushing themselves and challenging themselves to the limits of their performance are not looking at this tool at all. Whereas there are tens of thousands, if not more, of players who, from an accessibility perspective, have had their game experience transformed, where they can now engage in content that previously felt off-limits to them because of the ability to make combat work this way.”
Faster Development, More Content Delivery
All of the aforementioned features represent just the tip of the iceberg for the Midnight expansion. Despite Midnight`s projected arrival in early 2026, which is earlier than WoW`s customary two-year expansion cycle (a goal previously articulated by Warcraft executive creative director Chris Metzen at BlizzCon 2023), Blizzard appears poised to deliver the same volume of content players have come to anticipate. This includes four zones, seven Delves, eight dungeons, a new PvP battleground, and, for the first time in a considerable while, three distinct raids at launch: The Voidspire (featuring six bosses), The Dreamrift (a single-boss encounter), and March on Quel`Danas (containing two bosses).
Hazzikostas and Kubit attributed the team`s ability to deliver content faster (and more consistently) than ever before to a combination of factors, including improved planning and a more extended roadmap for the game`s future direction. “We`re not necessarily pursuing speed for the sake of speed,” Hazzikostas clarified. “More [content] faster isn`t always better, but when we`ve had lulls, we know nobody likes content droughts. Our focus has always been on trying to eliminate those, and if we can flow seamlessly from a series of strong patches into the next expansion, that seems ideal. Another piece of this is also just a lot of pre-planning. That`s one of the really exciting things from a narrative, world-building perspective about the Worldsoul Saga. We knew we were headed here with much more detail than we usually do before The War Within even came out. All of those things help.”
World of Warcraft: Midnight is currently slated for release in early 2026.