There have been rumors of a mobile game set in the Warcraft universe since all the way back in 2017. With the massive popularity that Blizzard’s MMORPG, World of Warcraft on PC has seen for nearly the last two decades, hopes are high that the Warcraft mobile game will be a direct World of Warcraft port.
WoW fans are clamoring for ways to take their game on the go so they can grind to reach Mythic+ 15 faster. But there’s no guarantee from Blizzard that a WoW mobile port is coming. So, if you want to make the most out of WoW right now, you can go for WoW Mythic+ Boost for PC without waiting for Blizzard’s mobile version to reach the end-game. But if we were to speculate, there are few interesting pieces of information.
The rumor going around
In 2017, a job posting on Blizzard’s website called for applicants to help develop a new Warcraft mobile game. Then in 2018, during a Kotaku interview with World of Warcraft’s lead designer, Cory Stockton, on the release of Diablo Immortal, further fuel was added to the fire.
In the interview, it came to light that Stockton, as well as many employees at Blizzard, are also huge fans of Pokémon and the hit mobile AR title Pokémon GO, but that the mobile AR Warcraft title would also have single-player elements. Though, given certain ongoing global “events”, this style of mobile-based Warcraft title probably isn’t very high in the development priority list. In 2019, one of Blizzard’s founders, Allen Adham, confirmed that the company’s plans for expansion into mobile gaming involve developing mobile games for all of their IPs, saying:
Many of us over the last few years have shifted from playing primarily desktop to playing many hours on mobile, and we have many of our best developers now working on new mobile titles across all of our IPs. I will also say that we have more new products in development today at Blizzard than we’ve ever had in our history, and our future is very bright.
Allen Adham
More recently, during Activision-Blizzard’s 2020 Q4 financial earnings call, company CEO Bobby Kotick confirmed that multiple mobile games are in development set in the Warcraft universe. When speaking to investors, Kotick shared the company’s plans to develop not one but multiple free-to-play mobile Warcraft experiences as a way to deliver “more frequent” premium content.
Theorycrafting Warcraft Mobile possibilities
It’s pretty clear that there is at least one Warcraft mobile game in development at Blizzard, if not multiple. But, apart from the potential Pokémon GO-inspired title, almost nothing is known about how any of the other rumored Warcraft mobile games will play. The latest bit of information doesn’t do much to solve the mystery either. Another job listing – now deleted – this time posted as a link via a tweet by Blizzard 3D artist Clayton Chod, mainly confirmed that the mobile game has been in development since 2016 and that it will involve 3D environments.
1. WoW Mobile Pet Battles
So, what do we know so far? It’s a mobile game, it’s Warcraft-based though not necessarily World-of-Warcraft-based, and it probably involves 3D environments. The top theory right now is that the game will be a WoW pet battle simulator, but given Wow’s pet battles could easily be ported over to a mobile app with the existing game assets, this is unlikely given their need for brand new 3D environments.
2. Warcraft AR
Then, it could also be the Pokémon GO styled AR mobile game that was teased years ago. This makes sense together with the job opening for a 3D environment artist. But, I wouldn’t give this theory much water either, unless their planned release date is at least a couple of years down the line when people are hopefully out and about again.
3. World of Warcraft RPG
Alternatively, it could be an RPG game similar to Diablo Immortal set in the World of Warcraft universe. Since Blizzard’s already shown that it can pull off such an ambitious project, it wouldn’t surprise me if they gave their Warcraft mobile game the same treatment.
4. Warcraft Mobile RTS
It’s worth noting, however, that the majority of Warcraft titles are Real-Time Strategy (RTS) games. World of Warcraft is massively popular, but the demand and subsequent disappointment over Warcraft III: Reforged is a clear indicator that demand for a Warcraft RTS is still strong. 3D environments are equally important for both RTS and RPG games, so it’s anyone’s bet what the mobile game will eventually be
The Future for Warcraft on Mobile
While we’re all hoping for a mobile spiritual successor to WoW – or even better: a direct port, technically, we’ve already got a mobile Warcraft game in Hearthstone. But, we know we’re in for more since Kotick’s comments earlier this year were apparently about other, as-yet-unannounced games that remain in development.
Blizzard hasn’t made mention of, much less announced, any of its Warcraft mobile games in development on any of its official channels, but the company has made it abundantly clear that they have been making efforts to capture a share of the mobile gaming market for years now. The company highlights that it isn’t just their Diablo franchise but all of their IPs, including Overwatch and Warcraft, that will be getting mobile releases. Hopefully, whatever they come up with for Warcraft on mobile becomes as much of a runaway success as Diablo Immortal has been.
What are your thoughts on the rumors about the upcoming release of a new World of Warcraft game for mobile? Let us know in the comment section below!
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