Warcraft Rumble: “its own kind of expression of Warcraft”

As a franchise, Warcraft has spawned a number of spin-offs over the years since its days as a strategy game. World of Warcraft is the biggest hit and continues to reap the rewards, while Hearthstone brought us to the taverns of Azeroth to pull up a chair and play a trading card game. BlizzCon 2023 had the opportunity to be the global launch point for a new spin-off designed for smartphones: Warcraft Rumble.

The game is the company’s latest release, and we were able to speak with Jeremy Collins, Art Director, and Elhora Davis, Warcraft Rumble Producer, to find out what’s next for the game and what players can expect in the future with this new game.

A launch for BlizzCon

One of the details they emphasized was the excitement of finally being able to launch the game. For Jeremy Collins, it’s “time to talk strategy with other people” and have that approach with the fans on the show floor. “Seeing fans play the game is like literally the best thing a game developer can get. You get to see people enjoying the thing that you made, and get some constructive criticism even once in a while.”

A game designed for everyone

One of the most important details about the game was its simplicity, but also how Warcraft Rumble could be one of the starting points for the franchise. Collins mentions a mantra within the Rumble development team, “Warcraft is for everybody,” something they wanted to maintain for this game. " If you have played World of Warcraft or you are familiar with the 30 years of Warcraft there is some game for you. But if you have not seen any of that stuff, or you didn’t know any of the characters the art will bring you into the game so you play and then you can learn something about it.”

What’s in the future?

As for the future, Collins summed it up saying “We have a lot of stuff coming down the line,” but Davis gave us more details on what’s in development. “We plan to release new seasonal goodies every PvP season, that’s every 6 weeks. You can expect new minis that you can earn by playing PvP or other game modes.” Then there are the previously announced Raids, which are " the endgame ultimate expression of a player’s collection. That is going to be the time that all the master skills that the player has picked across in their journey.”

On how they envision the future of the game in 5 years, both developers were silent, being something they hadn’t really thought about since launch was what they had in mind. However, Davis was able to give her expectation of what Warcraft Rumble will be in the future: “I want it to have its own place in Blizzard’s history and lineup. Blizzard has this ability to have these longevities. WoW has been around for 20 years, it’s kind of amazing. It’s almost as long as I’ve been alive. Seeing the reception at the event and how people enjoy it, I hope it has a place in people’s pockets for many years to come.”

Warcraft Rumble is now available on iOS and Android.