A lot of rumors have been circulating the web about World of Warcraft coming to consoles. It probably doesn’t help that the game popped up on Newegg with Xbox Live support. But is there any basis to this speculation?
As a player of World of Warcraft since its launch in 2004, the idea seemed absolutely ridiculous to me at first. However, Blizzard has been asked about a console port several times over the years, and their stance has always been that they’d do it if they can overcome the inherent challenges of building a complex game designed with a keyboard and mouse in mind to work on a modern controller.
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Despite the hurdles being large and very real, the more I think about it the more I believe that World of Warcraft does have a future on consoles. Here’s why.
An Ability Squish is On the Horizon
The biggest problem that World of Warcraft faces with being console-friendly is the sheer amount of abilities each class has. Even the most simple classes have enough skills to fill up several bars, and these skills have to be managed effectively to perform well. The crazy thing is most of these abilities are either used during your rotation, or are at least necessary in certain situations (buffs, crowd control, etc.); they aren’t just fluff. It’s a lot to handle on PC, and would be disastrous on a controller.
In the upcoming expansion pack Warlords of Draenor a ton of abilities are being removed from the game. While this has caused some backlash from fans who want their UI filled to the brim with keybindings to be unscathed, it’s a necessary move to trim things down after several expansions of ability bloat. It’s an extremely bold move, especially when you think that in a way the game is “removing content” in an expansion. But really, being concise is exactly what World of Warcraft needs right now. Nothing is more of a headache than earning a new ability and having nowhere to put it, resulting in you having to think of yet another keybinding combination.
If Blizzard can get the in-combat ability list down to two bars, or roughly 16 regularly used abilities, the game will easily be playable with a controller. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has been able to make it work by using trigger button + d-pad/face button combinations, and there’s no reason to think World of Warcraft can’t accomplish the same.
Blizzard Has Shown a Strong Interest in Consoles
Over the past few years Blizzard has grown to insurmountable heights. In order to continue progressing, management began looking at the prospect of bringing its top-tier games to consoles. The first product of this development (barring StarCraft 64) was Diablo 3, a game which owes about 15% of its financial success to the Xbox 360 and PS3. Made better, PS4 and Xbox One versions will be arriving later this year that are sure to raise that number substantially.
There are also some rumblings that Heroes of the Storm will be available on consoles. Its streamlined approach of the highly-competitive MOBA genre has raised some eyebrows. After playing it for a couple weeks, I know it could work, and that would add yet another big star to Blizzard’s console roster.
Related: Diablo 3 Coming to PS4 and Xbox One this August
Blizzard Lead Systems Designer Greg Street has voiced his interest in a console version of World of Warcraft. This isn’t something that’s being completely ignored by management, we know that at the very least it’s been considered. What’ll make or break its future is whether or not the obstacles related with a console iteration are substantial enough to make it financially unviable.
After all, making games is ultimately about money. When you can release a game on several platforms you’re able to sell more copies. More copies equals more money.
World of Warcraft Could Use the Subscription Boost
Let’s be real here, while World of Warcraft still has more subscribers than any other game on the planet, it’s in decline. Numbers shown during investor calls present a scenario where the game is falling downhill, and there’s no telling if there’s any hope for stopping it.
There’s no reason to think that a genius company like Blizzard is just going to lay down its sword and let World of Warcraft continue to fall while pumping out expansions every two years. To be fair, Warlords of Draenor looks like a fantastic and meaningful expansion, but it can’t turn the tides alone.
Related: WoW Subscribers Down 3.3 Million in 10 Months
A console release is exactly what would spark huge momentum. Presenting World of Warcraft to a completely new demographic, which has certainly heard about the game over the years, is nothing to take lightly. Diablo 3 has sold over two million copies on consoles, and it doesn’t have the reputation that World of Warcraft does.
