Every Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct Announcement

The Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct was full of incredible surprises from across every Warcraft title, including some we haven’t seen in generations. From player housing (yes!) to a Classic refresh and The War Within 11.1, here’s every announcement from the livestream.

Warcraft Battle Chest: Warcraft I Remastered, Warcraft 2 Remastered, & Warcraft III: Reforged 2.0

The Warcraft 30th Direct kicked off where it all began: the RTS series. Starting today, Warcraft III: Reforged will update to version 2.0, boasting customizable updated visuals, quality-of-life changes (like hotkey customization), a revamped ladder, and “much, much more.”

That’s not all when it comes to Warcraft, though! Warcraft I and II are both receiving Remasters with hand-drawn graphics and much-needed QoL improvements, including health bars, tooltips, a fancy new mission select screen, faster speed, band-box select, and increased unit selection. Phew.

Warcraft I Remastered and Warcraft II Remastered launch today (November 13th) alongside the new Warcraft Battle Chest, which includes both remasters and Warcraft III: Reforged — as well as the beautiful Meat Wagon mount in World of Warcraft.

World of Warcraft: The War Within Patch 1.1 Undermined, Siren Isle, 2025 Roadmap, Player Housing, and Heartlands

TWW Patch 1.1: Undermined

The first major patch for WoW: The War Within is Undermined, kicking off Season 2 with lots of goblin goodies, including:

• The legendary goblin city of Undermine as a new zone.
• Four goblin cartels to run with: Steamwheedle, Blackwater, Bilgewater, and the Venture Company.
• A blazingly fast customizable vehicle designed exclusively for the Undermine. Customize drift, acceleration, and more to speed around town.
• Operation: Floodgate, a new dungeon where players race to stop goblins from destroying the Ringing Deeps. Available on all difficulties in Season 2, along with the return of MOTHERLODE.
• Two new Delves and variations of existing delves.
• Brann Bronzebeard updates, including new Curios.
• Season Two’s version of Zek’vir. (Oh, boy)
• Liberation of Undermine, a new 8-boss raid featuring everyone’s favorite (former) Trade Prince, Jastor Gallywix.

From 30th Anniversary Direct’s footage, Undermined looks absolutely phenomenal. The art team didn’t miss here, with Liberation of Undermine potentially shaping up to be one of the best-looking raids of all time.

Patch 1.0.7: The Siren Isle

The previously-announced Siren Isle will be hit live servers next month, with epilogues and story content leading us toward Undermined and beyond. According to the 2025 Roadmap, Plunderstorm will return between 11.0.7 and 11.1 with its promised new rewards.

Player Housing, Midnight, and 2025 Roadmap

That’s right, they’ve finally done it. Player housing is coming to World of Warcraft… In the next expansion. World of Warcraft Midnight will introduce player housing after two decades of fan requests, though we don’t know to what extent just yet. Blizzard will announce more about player housing and Midnight in late summer 2025.

Speaking of upcoming content, the 2025 World of Warcraft roadmap details a basic content outline up to the beginning of winter:

• 1.1.5 will arrive in Spring with new content labeled “Nightfall,” a return to Horrific Visions from BFA, and an update to Children’s Week
• 1.1.7 will also launch in Spring with new story quests, content and system updates, and another Turbulent Timeways event
• 1.2 and Season 3 arrive in Summer, featuring a new dungeon, raid, world events and open world challenges. This major patch also includes updates to Warbands, Brewfest, and season rewards.
• 1.2.5 begins in Autumn with “new content and system updates,” as well as the 21st anniversary event.
• Finally, 1.2.7 will add new story quests and content, with a cryptic event happening at the beginning of winter. Could this be Legion remix or something entirely unexpected?

The War Within: Heartlands

World of Warcraft: The War Within Heartlands, a 5-part audio novella available right now. Heartlands is written by Adam Christopher and narrated by the legendary Chris Metzen, exploring what happened to Jaina and Thrall while we were busy adventuring in Khaz Algar.

World of Warcraft Classic: Classic refresh, Mists of Pandaria, SoD Phase 7, and the return of The Burning Crusade

World of Warcraft Classic…Classic?

Any World of Warcraft Classic player knows the fanbase has been begging for a Classic Era refresh, and I’m happy to say that it’s finally happening. The Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct announced fresh starts for World of Warcraft Classic begin on November 21 with WoW Classic 20th Anniversary Edition.

World of Warcraft Classic 20th Anniversary features “very large” realms with PvE, PvP, and even Hardcore options. Additionally, QoL features like the Chronoboon Displacer and PvP Honor System will be available from the start. Like before, the experience will be split into phases over the course of around a year, before transitioning to…

The Burning Crusade Classic

The Burning Crusade Classic returns in late 2025! WoW Classic 20th Anniversary characters will progress into TBC Classic after the conclusion of Phase 6, with the exception of Hardcore characters. It seems like Hardcore TBC isn’t quite on the table just yet.

The Hour of Twilight and Mists of Pandaria Classic

World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic will wrap up with The Hour of Twilight patch in December. The not-so-surprising announce

Once Dragon Soul has been swept up, Mists of Pandaria Classic will replace Cataclysm in Autumn 2025. The pre-patch, which brings Pandaren, Monks, Pet Battles, and Theramore’s Fall will fly in Summer 2025.

Season of Discovery Phase 7

Last, but certainly not least in the 30th Anniversary Direct WoW Classic announcements, is Season of Discovery Phase 7. Late Winter 2024 will see the arrival of Naxxramas and brand-new endgame content starring the Scarlet Crusade and Deadwind Pass.

Additionally, new Qiraji battle tank mounts were briefly teased in the live stream, presumably for new Ahn’Qiraj content in Phase Six.

Hearthstone: Starcraft crossover, Arena Revamp, and Year of the Raptor

Heroes of Starcraft

Coming out of nowhere like a sudden swarm of Zerg was the reveal of Heroes of Starcraft, a mini-set for Hearthstone based on the iconic Blizzard series landing in January 2025. The Zerg, Terran, and Protoss are each represented as factions with their own hero card:

• Kerrigan leads the Zerg with an aggro playstyle for Death Knights, Hunters, Warlocks, and Demon Hunters.
• Artanis leads the Protoss, providing Druids, Mages, Priests, and Rogues with powerful high-mana units.
• Jim Raynor leads the Terran, giving Warriors, Paladins, and Shamans starships — battlecruisers, to be specific.

Along with cards full of Starcraft characters and references (plus a certain Murloc), Heroes of Starcraft features new music and visuals in Hearthstone’s most extensive mini-set to date.

Arena Revamp and Underground Arena

Being almost entirely unchanged in the decade since its launch (ouch, my back), Arena is set to receive some significant updates early next year. Players can choose between two versions of Arena: standard Arena with shortened runs and Underground Arena, featuring longer runs and a new “Redraft on Loss” feature.

Redraft on Loss allows you to redraw cards and tweak your deck after a loss in Underground Arena. Both Arena modes will feature separate Arena ratings, with regular Arena matching players with similar skill levels, while Underground features a wild mix of player abilities.

Year of the Raptor

The 30th Anniversary direct showcased the roadmap for Year of the Raptor in Hearthstone, featuring three new expansions: Into the Emerald Dream, The Shrouded City, and The Heroes of Time.

Into the Emerald Dream features the Druids of the Emerald Dream in a face-off with The Old Gods, heating up mid-season with a Druids of the Flame mini-set.

The Shrouded City is Hearthstone’s first sequel set, sending players back to Un’goro to explore and party in the Festival of the Dinosaur mini-set.

Finally, The Heroes of Time is a time-travel set featuring alternate realities and an epic final battle with Murozond in the End Time mini-set. What happens at the end of the expansion is something “[we] won’t believe.”

Warcraft Rumble: PC launch and Split Leaders

The heavens have heard my call, and the once-mobile exclusive Warcraft Rumble is launching on PC with a beta on December 10, 2024. Alongside the beta are three new “Split Leaders”, who belong to multiple families:

• Malfurion Stormrage for the Alliance and Cenarion
• Orgrim Doomhammer for the Horde and Blackrock
• Anub’arak for the Undead and Beasts

In addition to these exciting new heroes, Sylvanas will also become a split leader, joining the Horde alongside the Undead.

That wraps it up for every announcement from Warcraft’s 30th Anniversary Direct livestream! What are you most excited for?

World of Warcraft and Warcraft Battle Chest are available now on PC. Hearthstone is available on PC and mobile devices. Warcraft Rumble is exclusive to mobile devices until it arrives on PC later this year.