World of Warcraft's Next Expansion Theme May Have Leaked

A new datamine might have revealed the theme for the next World of Warcraft expansion.

By Ricky Frech

With BlizzCon 2023 quickly approaching, World of Warcraft fans are hyping themselves up with ideas for what might be the next expansion. Recently, we've seen Blizzard Entertainment debunk a potential pirate theme, but the company hasn't given its fans any real hints. Making it even more interesting is the fact that Warcraft legend Chris Metzen has signed back up with Blizzard for full-time work as Warcraft's creative director. However, a new datamine from the live version of World of Warcraft may have given away where WoW is going next. As with all leaks, you'll want to take this with a hefty grain of salt, but the theories behind this information seem pretty concrete.

This datamine comes from a Reddit user named Wiraneusz on the official WoW subreddit. They found several achievements that are in the live version of the game but haven't been implemented yet. Many of them appear to be crossovers with the mobile game Warcraft Rumble, but one specific entry has fans on the subreddit in a tizzy as they try to piece together what it might mean.

The achievement list has an entry that reads "Heroic Edtion: Algarian Stormrider." This might not immediately stand out if you haven't been paying close attention to World of Warcraft's different raids. Specifically, in the new wing of Uldaman that was introduced during Dragonflight, there was foreshadowing for a place called Khaz Algar. It's possible that the Algarian Stormrider could be related, though it might just be an upcoming Dwarf cosmetic.

As you'd expect, that hasn't kept players from going wild with speculation. In fact, players in the comments pointed out that there were also datamined assets in patches 10.1 and 10.2 related to Dwarfs, possibly pointing to Dwarf-heavy expansion. Of course, this could all be for nothing and that mount might be the Blizzcon mount and be completely unrelated to the next expansion. Fortunately, we don't have to wait too much longer to find out with BlizzCon 2023 happening soon.

When is BlizzCon 2023?

BlizzCon 2023 is set for November 3-4. Blizzard hasn't announced the exact start time of the Opening Night, but that event will be broadcast for everyone. It will include all of the biggest announcements, which will include whatever's next for World of Warcraft. It's very likely that'll be the next expansion given World of Warcraft's general cadence for new content. 

Outside of World of Warcraft, Blizzard will be revealing the next Hero for Overwatch 2 and may give players a first look at Season 3 in Diablo 4. We'll also see more from Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble. And with this being the first time BlizzCon is returning to in-person attendance for the first time, it seems likely that Blizzard will try to pull out all the stops. If the team has a new game in the works, this would be a great time to announce it when the hype is at its highest.

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