Is World of Warcraft’s plan to dumb down for Xbox / PS5 console versions? — “It is not, there’s no reason for us to hide this” says game director Ion Hazzikostas.

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The current major update for World of Warcraft, The War Within, is nearing its end. Soon, players will begin the next chapter, World of Warcraft: Midnight, which continues the Worldsoul Saga. The story will focus on the villain Xal’atath as she targets the Sunwell, a key location in a redesigned part of the Northern Eastern Kingdoms.

Big changes are coming to Midnight in 2026! Players can look forward to a new Demon Hunter specialization with a void theme, lots of improvements to the user interface, and a new outdoor bounty system called Prey. Silvermoon City is also getting a major overhaul. But the biggest addition is Player Housing – a comprehensive system that will bring a detailed, Animal Crossing-style experience to this long-running online game.

I shared a report last week detailing that the next Xbox will basically function as a complete Windows PC, but specifically designed for televisions and gaming. It seems that report had at least one effect I didn’t anticipate.

A recent change in the ‘Midnight’ update has sparked debate, particularly regarding how classes work and the removal of many combat addons. Some players worry this is a move to simplify World of Warcraft for a more casual audience. But before jumping to conclusions, let’s hold off on harsh criticism.

I recently had the chance to speak with Ion Hazzikostas, the game director for World of Warcraft. I was joined by Berzerker, host of the Unshackled Fury podcast, and we were eager to get more insights from him.

Is World of Warcraft trying to become a console game? No, says Hazzikostas.

After I mentioned the next Xbox will function much like a PC, some news sources incorrectly reported that Microsoft is making Blizzard simplify World of Warcraft specifically for the console. This led to a false idea that Microsoft is intentionally lowering the game’s quality.

The upcoming update, Midnight, will significantly limit the use of combat addons, likely making popular tools like WeakAuras unusable. Some players believe Blizzard is doing this to prepare the game for release on Xbox. However, given that the next Xbox console is essentially a PC, it could easily support addons from sources like CurseForge or even allow access to game files for their installation.

Blizzard has been working to improve gamepad support in World of Warcraft, noticing the growing popularity of players using devices like the Steam Deck and Xbox Ally with the ConsolePort addon. However, according to game director Ion Hazzikostas, the recent combat changes aren’t aimed at bringing the game to consoles – there are currently no plans for a console version of World of Warcraft.

Ion Hazzikostas clarifies that the combat design in the Midnight class wasn’t created with the goal of maximizing gamepad button presses. He states, “It is not.”

We want to be upfront about this: we aren’t working on bringing World of Warcraft to consoles or other platforms. If we were, we’d definitely say so – we’d acknowledge it’s a big project, but something we’re aiming for. Right now, our priority is delivering the best experience for players on PC.

Many of the recent changes aim to make the game more welcoming to new players. World of Warcraft is known for being a very complicated game, and while some players enjoy that complexity, there’s a difference between a game being difficult to *master* and simply being complicated. Blizzard wants all its games to be easy to pick up and learn, but offer endless opportunities for skilled players to improve and excel.

With the changes coming to World of Warcraft in the Midnight update, we’re focusing on making the game easier for new players to pick up. However, the skill ceiling will remain very high. The most skilled players – those who excel at PvP, compete in Mythic Dungeon International, dominate Mythic+ leaderboards, and strive for world-first achievements – will still be at the top. There will still be plenty of difficult content and challenges for dedicated players who want to master the game.

We’ve been discussing this conceptually for over a year. Now, we’re evaluating where the game stands and what players need to succeed. Specifically, we’re looking at the skills, addons, and knowledge required for both casual and endgame content – what do raiding guilds expect, and what’s typical for players joining random Mythic+ groups? The goal is to make those expectations more achievable for everyone.

Hazzikostas stated the updates aim to make the game easier for beginners, while still providing a challenging experience for experienced players. He also encouraged players to continue sharing feedback to help improve the game further.

We’ve been making some adjustments to classes. This time, unlike a big cleanup we did almost a decade ago, we’re not just looking at the number of buttons or abilities. Previously, we mainly removed less popular utility abilities that most players weren’t using often.

We received feedback that changes were blurring the lines between different classes and specializations, and surprisingly, making the game easier overall. We had removed unique abilities that allowed skilled players to stand out and feel rewarded for mastering them. Now, we’re focusing on streamlining the basic combat actions that *all* players need to perform, while still allowing for specialization and skill expression.

I’ve been thinking about how many of our abilities feel unnecessary when they’re always used together in a rotation. It feels like there isn’t much skill involved – it’s just pressing a button whenever it’s available. Sometimes we even use add-ons to *tell* us when to press it! I question whether that actually makes the game more engaging or just more complicated. That’s what we’re trying to address – figuring out if things are adding true depth or just extra steps.

We’re still working on things and haven’t reached a final result yet, but this is how we’re beginning. The team will continue to refine and improve the product throughout the Alpha and Beta testing phases of [Midnight].

As a long-time Blizzard player, I was really interested to hear Hazzikostas talk about their design philosophy for different classes. Basically, they want each specialization to *feel* different, and that means some will naturally be more complicated to master than others. He specifically mentioned that Beast Mastery is meant to be easy to pick up and fun, and it stays popular even if it’s not always the top performer in rankings. But, they also want to make sure even simpler specs have options to add complexity through talents if you’re looking for a challenge. It’s cool to see they’re thinking about catering to different player preferences!

Hazzikostas acknowledged that some recent changes may have been excessive. He explained that this current version represents the most streamlined it will be before considering player feedback. Players have expressed concerns that certain abilities are missing or that their preferred playstyles are hindered, and the development team is receptive to bringing those elements back.

Having a variety of specs with different levels of complexity is good. With three pure damage-dealing classes currently in the game, it’s perfectly fine if one of them is easier to learn and play.

Many players are looking for classes and abilities that are easier to understand and use. However, we don’t want *everything* to be simple. We also want to offer more complex options, especially for players who choose talents that add extra layers of challenge and customization.

We want to appeal to all kinds of players with our updates. However, we also know that long-time players, like those who’ve enjoyed a class like Demonology Warlock for years, don’t want major changes that go against what they expect or ruin the things they love about it.

As we continue to update the game, we’re always adding new features like Apex Talents and set bonuses. However, we need to be careful about how much we add. Think of it like pruning a plant – we can’t just keep adding things without trimming back the old, or the system will become too complex and unstable.

World of Warcraft’s broad appeal is one of its strengths, and biggest design challenges

World of Warcraft: Midnight appears to be one of the most substantial expansions ever created for the 20-year-old game. The new Player Housing feature has been in development for years and is incredibly detailed – it’s as robust and complete as games specifically built around housing mechanics.

The recently introduced Prey system seems like a great way to make the open world more challenging, and the new Arcantina hub offers a lot of exciting possibilities for players.

I’m still getting used to the gameplay changes. I’m happy they removed the repetitive spell-casting from Affliction Warlocks, and the updates to Unholy Death Knights have been enjoyable. The instant minion summoning for Demonology Warlocks is a nice improvement, but it’s too early to tell how everything will feel in challenging endgame content like Mythic+ dungeons and raids. It’s clear some classes are benefiting from the changes more than others.

The upcoming beta is designed to help with exactly that. We hope Blizzard takes player feedback seriously and continues to make the game accessible for beginners while still offering a high skill ceiling for experienced players.

We recently spoke with Ion Hazzikostas about his path from playing World of Warcraft to leading its development, how the game’s community has changed, and Blizzard’s plans for the future. You can find the complete interview on YouTube, Spotify, and your favorite podcast app.

A huge thank you to Ion Hazzikostas for sharing some time with us!

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2025-11-03 19:11