Blizzard released the third and final entry in its Warbringer series of semi-animated shorts, which focus on major characters in World of Warcraft’s new expansion, Battle for Azeroth. This one gives us major clues about the future of the online game.
Battle for Azeroth is already a hit, selling over 3.4 million copies worldwide on its first day of release on August 14. That broke the record for a World of Warcraft expansion debut. But Blizzard will need to support the expansion with regular releases of new raids and story experiences to keep those players happy (and subscribing).
This new short focuses on Azshara, the former queen of the night elves. The first Warbringer featured the human mage Jaina Proudmore, while the second starred the undead queen and Horde leader, Sylvanas Windrunner. Those stories focused on World of Warcraft’s present, but Azshara’s tale goes back centuries to the fall of the night elf empire. You can watch the video above.
Battle for Azeroth focuses on the faction conflict between the Horde and Alliance, but many fans have speculated that a larger threat may be looming over (or rather, under) Azeroth: the Old Gods. These ancient, Lovecraftian beings used to rule the world before their imprisonment, but they can still influence others with their dark whispers.
This short sets up Azshara as a villain for some future part of the expansion, likely the second raid (the first raid, Uldir, launches on September 4). Even further in the future, the Old God N’Zoth (the unnamed tentacle monster from the video) could be the expansion’s final raid boss. N’Zoth is a familiar face (or, uh, tentacle monster) to Hearthstone fans, as he and other Old Gods starred in the digital card game’s Whispers of the Old Gods expansion.
Source: VentureBeat
