It's not just the Worldsoul Saga - World of Warcraft lead Chris Metzen says Blizzard is "mapping out" the MMO upwards of patch 17.0

The World of Warcraft team is planning the game's future years in advance, at least up until 17.0.

In an interview with the WoWCast podcast about the MMO's The War Within expansion coming later this month, franchise creative director Chris Metzen explained that "it's one of the most nuclear creative phases I've ever seen" behind the curtain at Blizzard. The MMO team isn't just preoccupied with this month's expansion - The War Within kickstarts the Worldsoul Saga, the long-running game's first stab at one, interconnected trilogy.

Because each chapter needs to feed into the next, Metzen says the team is "already mapping out, you know, 13.1 and 13.2, and how they actually play out and connect. It's wild." To give you an idea of how far away that is, World of Warcraft celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and it's so far on update 11.0.2.

"In a way, you get to step back and see a far more cohesive vision and a far more refined idea over time," Metzen continues. "Without spilling any beans, we're already, honestly, talking about the next few [updates] upwards of 17.0. It's just keeping the conveyer belt going."

Metzen explains that, this time, the WoW team has planned so far in advance because fans now "want more content, more regularly," and Blizzard developers are just "staying ahead of that curve" while "making sure everything has a purpose in telling this much longer story."

In the more immediate future, World of Warcraft: The War Within is bringing cross-character transmog , an ancient race of spiders plus an arachnophobia mode, and a potentially grim fate for the High King of the Alliance come August 26.

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