New “mobile Warcraft content” is slated to release sometime in 2022, according to Activision Blizzard’s 2021 fourth-quarter earnings report. While it seems safe to assume it will be a Warcraft mobile game, the exact wording keeps things vague.
“Blizzard is planning substantial new content for the Warcraft franchise in 2022, including new experiences in World of Warcraft and Hearthstone, and getting all-new mobile Warcraft content into players’ hands for the first time,” the report reads.
As for what that “mobile Warcraft content” will actually entail is anybody’s guess. This isn’t the first time Activision Blizzard has discussed Warcraft on mobile during an earnings report. In 2021, an earnings call stated two free-to-play Warcraft mobile games were in stages of “advanced development” and would allow “fans to experience the Warcraft universe in entirely new ways.” It should be noted that the reports specifically refer to the mobile games as “Warcraft” games and not “World of Warcraft,” so don’t expect Blizzard’s MMO to come to phones anytime soon.
Warcraft has technically had “mobile content” before. For the last several WoW expansions, players could use the game’s mobile companion app to earn additional in-game resources or play minigames that involved leveling up followers and sending them out on missions. Hearthstone, Blizzard’s popular Warcraft-themed card game, is also on mobile devices. The Warcraft franchise originally took the form of real-time strategy games, but the most recent game in the series to fit that format was 2002’s Warcraft III. It’s unclear if a Warcraft mobile game would embrace the franchise’s strategy roots or go in a different direction.
Activision Blizzard is currently in the process of being acquired by Microsoft in a $69 billion deal, pending approval by regulators. Microsoft’s buyout of the company comes as Activision Blizzard deals with ongoing lawsuits and investigations alleging a workplace culture of sexual harassment and discrimination.
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