Activision Blizzard announced that it was planning substantial content for the Warcraft universe throughout 2022. This substantial content most likely includes 9.2 Eternity’s End, the ninth expansion for World of Warcraft, and the long rumored Warcraft mobile game. There has been no official announcement on what the mobile game will look like, but Blizzard has said the title is on the way.
When players hear that their favorite franchise may be getting a mobile game it is often met with much skepticism and worry from the fanbase. Activision Blizzard are no strangers to this worry after the announcement of Diablo: Immortal, a reveal that was famously mocked online. Mobile game announcements often see players become worried that the brand will be tarnished, that the focus will be put on the mobile title, and that the brand will solely exist to make money. However, that does not have to be the case, as a Warcraft mobile game could be a fun experience for fans of the franchise.
Warcraft Mobile could be a standalone experience like Diablo: Immortal
Diablo: Immortal was announced back in 2018, and it did not go over very well. It was penned as the next big Diablo title, but fans would have to pull out their mobile devices to check it out. Fans were not happy, as they had been waiting anxiously for an announcement of Diablo 4 - which was announced a year later - and announcing the next big Diablo was a mobile game felt like an insult to the brand. Since then, more gameplay has been revealed, more story elements have been mentioned, and the next mainline PC entry was announced, so fans have lessened their anger towards Diablo: Immortal.
Diablo: Immortal is set to be a standalone title taking place between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3. A Warcraft mobile game could follow that path and set itself in between two titles in the Warcraft storyline. It could bridge the gap between Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne and World of Warcraft, filling in the story in between expansions, or it could be used to set up the next expansion. It could also be an entirely new experience following brand-new characters disconnected from the overarching story of Warcraft.
Warcraft Mobile could be an Expansion of the WoW Companion App
Warcraft already has dipped its toes in the mobile market with the WoW Companion App. The companion app allows players to manage their mission tables, champions, and view the maps from Warlords of Draenor to Shadowlands. It also allows them to check out their guild and keep up to date on the current events in the game. It is a pretty bare-bones app that allow players a quick look at their characters and lets them play with the mission tables, which have often been compared to mobile titles and Facebook games.
One of the easiest things Activision Blizzard could do is expand upon the framework that the companion app has laid down, adding the ability to manage character inventories and their banks so that they do not have to log in to move items around. Players could be allowed to access the auction house so they can have bidding wars while laying in bed. Even adding the ability to play some mini-games to farm the resource of the current and past expansions would be a solid feature. Making the companion app more useful would go a long way to making people install it.
Warcraft Mobile could be a port of a Warcraft Game
The other form that a Warcraft mobile game may take is a complete port of a previous game from the franchise. Blizzard ported Hearthstone to mobile, and it was the exact same game that PC players got to play. The same thing may work for a Warcraft title, but it could also prove to be very difficult.
World of Warcraft requires too many different button clicks and keybinds for it to be viable on a phone screen but one of the past Warcraft RTS may be perfect for a phone. Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness have received little love from Blizzard, they are not even purchasable through Battle.net, so a port of those to mobile may also be unlikely but would probably be met with shock from the fanbase. Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos is the most loved of the RTS titles, and launching it on mobile would also allow Blizzard to relaunch Warcraft 3: Reforged, which was met with very negative reviews when it launched.
A Warcraft mobile game could take all sorts of shapes, and until Blizzard officially announces it, the fans will just have to speculate about what it will look like. Fans also have 9.2 and a brand-new expansion to look forward to, so a Warcraft mobile game is just an added bonus.
World of Warcraft is available now on PC
