To start off the year, Blizzard announced the Blizzard Showcase, a series of developer-led updates for some of Blizzard’s most popular games and franchises. There will be updates on Overwatch, Diablo, Hearthstone, and World of Warcraft. The State of Azeroth showcased what’s coming to WoW in 2026, new housing features, and more.
With the introduction of Housing, a feature highly requested by fans, Blizzard has decided to shine a light with a interior design competition between some of the biggest creator names and best builders. Six pairs of prominent creators from around the world to create a concept, execute on their ideas, and produce exemplary player houses worth coming home to.
Mists of Pandora Classic is set to release its next phase with the release of the Escalation update in a few weeks, bringing in a new quest campaign, battleground, scenarios, and more. Updates for Mists of Pandaria Classic will continue over time as with previous expansions.
Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary Edition is launching soon. Players will play through the chess event in Karazhan, face Magtheridon, and more throughout the year. Seasonal Titan Reforged Realms in Classic WoW is now available for players in China. These realms will be based on how China players play.
Blizzard has announced the WoW Ambassadors Program, a way for players to connect with others who enjoy WoW the same way. Blizzard also announced a partnership with Habitat for Humanity with a charity pet pack that includes the adorable Roofus who will be available in both modern and classic WoW.
Modern WoW players will also get a dog house, a bowl, and a bed. Habitat for Humanity helps provide safety and shelter to families in need of an affordable homes. The organization has helped more than 65 million people globally.
Prior to the release of Midnight, the next major update for the game coming in March, players can get an early start with the Midnight pre-expansion update. The Twilight Ascension pre-expansion event is now live and will run through the launch of Midnight on March 2. The stakes for Azeroth will start to crystallize and the threat begins to take shape. The Void also makes itself felt in Azeroth.
The Twilight Ascension pre-expansion event is a repeatable event where players join Umbric and Grand Magister Rommath to keep the Twilight’s Blade cult at bay. Players can take up World Quests and defeat rare enemies to disrupt the rituals of the Twilight’s Blade cult as well as earn event currency to use to purchase limited-time rewards such as armor sets, pets, a mount, and more. Players can also collect new Housing decor.
With the pre-expansion, players will be able to try the new Void-themed ranged Devourer specialization and other system updates. This includes some of the baseline system improvements and updates including an updated transmog system that includes situational outfit swapping, an improved user interface (UI), and slot-based transmog so players don’t have to re-transmog every time they get an upgrade.
Traning Grounds is getting smater game-controlled opponents in the Arathi Basin, Silvershard Mines, and Battle for Gilneas battlegrounds for players new to PvP. The Winds of Mysterious Fourtune is a limited-time event where reputation gains and experience gains are boosted for players below level 80 as a way to get caught up to speed before the Midnight release. Players can also get a free Dark Portal Housing decor item if they have an active subscription or Game Time who log in between now and the Midnight expansion launch.
From January 29 through February 1, all players with an inactive WoW account will be granted full access to return to the game during the Welcome Back Weekend. Players can explore the base game up to level 80 including all level-up content, the pre-launch event events, the recent system updates, the completely overhauled returning player experience, and more than 20 years of Azeroth’s world and story.
World of Warcraft: Midnight is set to bring in and add:
- Increased Level Cap: The level cap in Midnight is increasing to level 90, and players will level through four new and reimagined zones full of new questing content of both campaign chapters as well as local stories with additional chapters waiting for you at maximum level.
- Eight New Dungeons: The expansion also introduces eight new dungeons, eleven new Delves and a new Delve companion, Valeera Sanguinar.
- Prey System: The new Prey System adds a new layer of depth and challenge to your gameplay.
- Slayers Rise PvP: A new PvP feature is arriving in Midnight with the Epic Battleground, Slayer’s Rise, which also exists as an outdoor world space for those who want to take part in world PvP in War Mode.
- Arcantina: Spend time in the Arcantina, a mystical tavern where you can rub elbows with some big names in WoW lore, learn more about them, and complete quests on their behalf.
Season One for Midnight will come a couple of weeks after launch, pulling the story forward through a host of new content. This includes:
- The Voidspire Raid: This six-boss raid is the beginning of the capstone for the story we’re telling at the start of Midnight.
- The Dreamrift Raid: A smaller one boss raid encounter.
- Four New World Bosses
- Updated Mythic+ Dungeon Pool: Four dungeons will be new Midnight dungeons and four will be four updated legacy dungeons.
- New Delves Season
- New PvP Season
A third raid zone with 2 bosses is coming after the start of Season One in The March on Quel’Danas. Midnight launches on March 2. Midnight Early Access begins February 26.
Patch 12.0.7 adds further escalation of Void Assaults and introduces one boss raid with Sporefall.
Patch 12.1 will be the first major content update for Midnight. A new zone with maximum level cotent, new raid, and a new season an updated Mythic+ dungeon Pool, new PvP and Delves rewards will be added along with the expected refinements that would come from a major content update. 12.1 also overhauls the Friends system.
Patch 12.1.5 is adding a new game mode that Blizzard hopes will add more flexibility and experimentation to help support that passionate community around Delves. The new feature is currently called Labyrinths and is aiming to be a more bite sized experience for those who love Delve gameplay.
Labyrinths are inspired by mega-dungeons and will be large, sprawling experiences that players can tackle all at once or a bit at a time. These will have a different form and reward structure compared to Delves currently but retains the core elements of exploring and besting foes alongside Delve companions.
There is also a small boss raid ecounter coming to this patch. This will act as a continuation f the narrartive and serve as a bridge and set the stage for the next major update the following year. Later in the yeaer, there will also be a new stand-alone event t from the same wizards who brought you game modes like Plunderstorm or Remix. More will be revealed at a later date. The new mode will exist alongside the core World of Warcraft game.