Blizzard drops a new cinematic trailer for World of Warcraft: The War Within, centered around the Nerubians of Azj-Kahet

What you need to know

• Blizzard has released a new motion comic cinematic trailer for World of Warcraft: The War Within.
• The cinematic, titled "Threads of Destiny", shows off a spider-like race called Nerubians and gives insight into their politics while providing context for the expansion's story.
• World of Warcraft: The War Within is expected to release on August 26 for PC.

World of Warcraft is getting its tenth expansion later this month, pitting players against the villainous Xal’atath the Harbinger and an army of spider-like Nerubians in an epic journey to save Azeroth. To prepare for the upcoming adventure, Blizzard has released a brand-new motion comic cinematic trailer to provide a little context on the current events of the game world and introduce the new foes.

Taking place in the Nerubian city of Azj-Kahet, the “Threads of Destiny” trailer lays the groundwork for the events of the expansion. The world of Azeroth has seen plenty of threats during World of Warcraft's two decades of storytelling, but the return of Xal’atath and her army of Nerubian spiderlings is shrouded in mysterious motivations for destruction.

The cinematic trailer sets the stage for the expansion’s events with exposition surrounding Nerubian politics, setting into motion events that will lead to the upcoming raid, set in Nerub’ar Palace in the Azj-Kahet region. The lore and story of World of Warcraft is lengthy, and getting caught up on all the events ahead of the August 26 release date for The War Within can be daunting. You can check out our World of Warcraft: The War Within FAQ and World of Warcraft: The War Within story overview for a refresher on what has gone down in Azeroth up to this point.

The community reaction to the latest trailer has been primarily positive, with commenters celebrating Threads of Destiny’s painterly art style and cinematic aesthetic. However, others found the plot for the cinematic to be too similar to the previously told story of Arthas. The War Within is the penultimate update for the 2024 World of Warcraft roadmap , as it was detailed in December 2023. In addition to a new campaign story, the update will include delves, hero talents, four new zones, eight new dungeons, a new raid, and a new season for PVP. Additional story and quests, new content and system updates, and a 20th-anniversary event are slated to follow up The War Within in update 11.0.5, coming mid-late Autumn of this year.

World of Warcraft: The War Within launches on PC on August 26. World of Warcraft is published by Blizzard Entertainment, which was acquired by Xbox at the end of 2023. Despite now being considered a first-party Xbox title, World of Warcraft has yet to be made available to subscribers of Game Pass. The injunction granted to the FTC by U.S. courts during the acquisition process prevented Activision Blizzard King and Xbox from working together to include ABK properties in the subscription service before the deal was officially closed. There has yet to be any clear announcements by Xbox or Blizzard on when (or even if) subscribers of PC Game Pass can expect to play World of Warcraft, widely considered one of Blizzard’s best PC games , as part of their subscription plan.