WoW: Forever adds new ban type to tackle real money trading
WoW: Forever has a new kind of ban to deal with real money trading
WoW: Forever has a new kind of ban to deal with real money trading
World of Warcraft: Forever has introduced a new "Temporary Economy Hold" penalty for accounts suspected of real money trading, restricting their use of trade, mail, guild banks, and the Auction House. Blizzard says the system is new and may produce false positives, but a hold alone won't leave permanent strikes unless RMT is later proven. It's one of several measures Blizzard is experimenting with to tamp down inflation in the persistent game.
World of Warcraft executive producer Holly Longdale spoke at PAX Australia about the World of Warcraft: Forever beta, calling it the biggest beta in Blizzard's history. She said the team has to be selective about feedback, noting "you don't listen to the loudest people in the room." The game fully releases on the 4th November.
"You don't listen to the loudest people in the room" - World of Warcraft: Forever boss discusses how to approach a deluge of feedback
At BlizzCon 2026, Blizzard announced that Heroes of the Storm is resuming active development with its first new hero in six years, Xal'atath, alongside World of Warcraft: Forever, Diablo 5, and an open world StarCraft shooter. Warcraft 3: Reforged also received a new full-length DLC campaign, Forsaken Kingdom, priced at $30. The article argues these moves show Blizzard still wants to honor its legacy communities, but Diablo 3 remains without new content, so the "old Blizzard" may never truly return.
Does Blizzard's revival of its classic games signal a return of the 'old Blizzard?' https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rts/does-blizzards-revival-of-its-classic-games-signal-a-return-of-the-old-blizzard/
Why alts are part of World of Warcraft: Forever's core progression plans https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/why-alts-are-part-of-world-of-warcraft-forevers-core-progression-plans/
The developers of World of Warcraft: Forever say alts are part of the game's core progression plans, with reasons to play them and unlock Legacy points. The game launches November 4, and executive producer Holly Longdale calls it the lowest barrier to entry for newcomers. The team is also considering account-wide banks to support alt play.
Blizzard says no to WoW: Forever dungeons being its fastest XP grind 😒
WoW: Forever, by casting off convenience, has horseshoed back around to being casual friendly again https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-forever-by-casting-off-modern-convenience-has-horseshoed-back-around-to-being-casual-friendly-again/
A PC Gamer MMO column argues that World of Warcraft: Forever, by casting off modern conveniences, has become casual friendly again. The author, who has a 9-5 job and doesn't consider himself a hardcore WoW player, says leveling in Forever is chill, built around 40-minute adventures that don't change if you come back a month later. By contrast, retail's seasonal structure demands intense play and resets much of your progress at season's end, often pushing casual players away.
World of Warcraft: Forever has released a "Your Adventure Begins" trailer. It highlights the new quests, characters, and rewards awaiting players on their leveling journey through Azeroth.
Xbox still has two first-party releases coming before the end of 2026: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 arrives October 23rd on Xbox Series X and Series S among other platforms, and won't be on Game Pass at launch. World of Warcraft: Forever isn't scheduled for full release until November 4th and isn't coming to Xbox consoles at launch, though Xbox CEO Asha Sharma cited it as getting off to a "strong start" and noted a 30% increase in positive brand sentiment over the past year.
WoW: Forever dev says 'there's a real longing for that slower, more deliberate pace' in MMOs https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-forever-dev-says-theres-a-real-longing-for-that-slower-more-deliberate-pace-in-mmos-a-deliberate-pushback-on-this-go-go-go-nature/
World of Warcraft: Forever associate production director Clay Stone says there's a real longing for a slower, more deliberate pace in MMOs, calling it a deliberate pushback on the "go go go" nature. He pointed to the success of Classic, the 2023 response to Hardcore, and players who skipped Season of Discovery because seasons felt ephemeral. Stone says Blizzard is deliberately building WoW Forever to answer whether it's too late to start with an emphatic "no."
European consumer protection authorities announced a series of coordinated actions against 10 video game companies, accusing them of dark patterns that put minors and players at risk of gaming addiction. The action, coordinated by the European Commission, focuses on practices such as premium in-game currencies that obscure real-world spending, selling virtual currency in set quantities that force overspending, and insufficient parental controls. The article cites Destiny 2's Silver bundles of 500, 1,000 and 1,500 units against item prices of 600 to 1,500 Silver, and notes Fortnite will let players buy the exact amount of V-Bucks they need starting October 14, a change also coming to Rocket League and Fall Guys but not PlayStation for now.
World of Warcraft: Forever's content scope grew during development, with associate production director Clay Stone saying the team's original internal pitch was four new dungeons before it became six and then nine. He said the response to Season of Discovery, shipped in November 2023, led to discussions about a non-season version, and that appetite within the team and Blizzard built the launch scope beyond what players expected.
WoW: Forever's list of changes snowballed as its devs got more excited https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-forevers-list-of-changes-snowballed-as-blizzard-got-more-excited-says-dev-our-original-pitch-internally-was-well-do-4-new-dungeons/
On September 30 the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network announced coordinated enforcement against nine companies including King, Supercell, Mojang, Riot Games and Ubisoft over how in-game virtual currency is sold and managed, with Crytek, InnoGames, Plarium Europe and PLR Worldwide Sales also named. The same day, Video Games Europe and EGDF jointly objected, questioning the legal basis and arguing in-game currency is not a crypto-like digital representation of value, saying they had asked for that basis since spring 2025 without reply. The dispute centers on whether in-game currency counts as a digital representation of value, which would make each in-game exchange a new consumer contract with its own 14-day withdrawal notice; the associations offered six commitments including clear real-money pricing and refunds for unused currency within 48 hours, conditional on resolving the legal uncertainty.
Blizzard refuses to let World of Warcraft: Forever's dungeons become the fastest way to grind XP https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/blizzard-refuses-to-let-world-of-warcraft-forevers-dungeons-become-the-fastest-way-to-grind-xp-we-need-to-hold-firm-on-these-balance-adjustments/
Blizzard announced tweaks to dungeon XP in World of Warcraft: Forever, raising the XP from killing dungeon monsters slightly but not back to WoW Classic levels. The developers said they want Azeroth to be the "main character" and don't want players spending their entire leveling experience in caves, so dungeon cleaving to 60 won't be the optimal way to level.
Blizzard has announced it will redo the standard-definition models for World of Warcraft: Forever's new Skyborne race, plus both SD and HD models for all Druid animal forms, early next year to better match the original game's retro look. The Skyborne currently only have an HD model, making them stand out awkwardly next to other races in SD graphics. The change arrives months after the game launches in November, and forum reactions are mixed but largely positive.
Blizzard has announced drastic visual changes to World of Warcraft: Forever's new Skyborne race following community feedback, with new models that better match the game's early MMO aesthetic. The changes remove softness, lower colour saturation and add more detailed fur textures, while new standard definition models are planned for early 2027. WoW Forever launches in full on 4th November.
Blizzard is changing the appearance of WoW: Forever's new Skyborne race in response to community feedback
PC Gamer magazine's issue 428 UK / 416 US features World of Warcraft: Forever as its cover story, claiming world-exclusive hands-on access to Blizzard's reboot of classic WoW along with interviews with key developers. The issue also includes a preview of Total War: Warhammer 40,000 and a review of The Blood of Dawnwalker, and is priced at $4.99 in print.
PC Gamer magazine's new issue is on sale now: World of Warcraft: Forever
Blizzard promises to make the blue elves in World of Warcraft: Forever look worse (positive)
Blizzard has promised in a blog post to give the Skyborne, the new blue elves in World of Warcraft: Forever, a retro visual makeover before the game launches in November. Players using the "HD" model setting will see harsher lines and shapes on their druid forms, while those using "SD" models will get updated Skyborne early next year. The race costs $30 to unlock.
World of Warcraft: Forever drops the PvP grind so normal people can have fancy titles too
We earned as much gold in WoW: Forever as we could in 2 hours—which caused at least one crashout
Blizzard outlined PvP changes for World of Warcraft: Forever in a blog post, removing the weekly leaderboard race in favor of an Honor currency and point-based progression. Players earn Honor from killing enemy players, completing battlegrounds, and finishing PvP quests, with Honor gains normalized across battlegrounds, and Rank points unlock 14 tiers of rewards including PvP gear and titles like High Warlord and Grand Marshal. Rank points have a weekly cap, and the system runs in PvP seasons that reset, with weekly tasks granting bonus Honor, Rank points, and a Legacy Point.
Three PC Gamer editors competed to make the most gold in two hours in World of Warcraft: Forever's beta, starting as level 1 horde characters with 20 silver each. One sold roleplay "wisdom" at a zeppelin tower for tips, another leaned on his journalist fame and slandered his rivals while begging, and the third had a secret strategy. The run included a mugging, an insult, a fall from the tower, and at least one crashout.
Blizzard moved Overwatch's pesky, perpetually banned hacker Sombra from damage to support, and the rework turned out far better than expected. The author, initially ready to scoff at the change as a concession to players unwilling to learn the game, admitted being proven wrong.
World of Warcraft: Forever beta players have repeatedly pushed back against updated high-definition character models and character portraits, preferring the game's original look. Developer Blizzard originally planned to use only HD models but added an option for original character models after testers stressed its importance, and a quilboar boss mistakenly using its modern WoW model was quickly reverted to its WoW Classic appearance. Earlier this week the character-creation screen also switched back to WoW's original portraits.
WoW is coming to D&D, but it's not 1:1 🎲
Overwatch's Season 5 patch reworks Sombra from Damage into a Support hero, and after several matches the author calls it the most fun he has had with her in over a year. Her retained abilities cast faster, and her new primary heal Hotfix applies healing over time in a way similar to the old Hack, though her numbers trail dedicated healers like Lifeweaver. Cyberspace, which replaces Virus, is an area debuff that halves enemies' healing and damage output and can be escaped by leaving its field.
In a leaked staff memo, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said the company is moving to a "family of devices" for Gen-10 rather than a single console. She said Xbox will certainly have a great console first but also knows many players will be on the go, with some hardware made in-house and some through partners. The memo also mentioned Xbox PC and Battle.net, saying Blizzard's launcher is "almost on-par with Steam for user retention."
Something truly wicked is unleashing during Season 5: A Grim Doctrine, live now in Overwatch on Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch!
According to Windows Central, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told staff at a townhall that the platform has returned to growth after an all-time low, at more than 2 to 3 times its previous level, and claimed a 30 percent boost in brand sentiment year over year. She cited strong starts for Minecraft Dungeons 2, Gears of War: E-Day and World of Warcraft Forever, and listed goals including Play Anywhere, Disc-to-Digital, making Xbox easier to develop for and making Game Pass more flexible. On Gen 10 hardware, Project Helix, she said Xbox is moving to a family of devices with a console first and some products made in-house and others with partners.
Overwatch's new season is live, adding the hero Doctrine, reworks for Sombra and Roadhog, and the final chapter of Blizzard's year-long narrative arc. The patch now makes Cassidy detach from Jetpack Cat's Lifeline tether and fall to the ground when he uses High Noon, which Blizzard says was too powerful at repositioning him to eliminate targets. The author notes that Soldier: 76's Ultimate and Ashe's B.O.B. can also be tethered but were left unchanged, and includes the full balance patch notes for Roadhog, Sombra, and hero hit volumes.