Blizzard unveils first look at World of Warcraft housing feature

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Housing is coming to World of Warcraft (WoW) and Blizzard Entertainment has provided fans with a first look at how development of this feature is progressing.

As explained in a developer blog WoW’s Housing system will stand on three key design pillars, namely “boundless self-expression”, “deeply social”, and “long-lasting journey”. Blizzard wants players to be able to create homes according to their own tastes and needs without having to learn any complicated tools, so there’s a balance to be struck between depth and accessibility. Housing will be fully available for players who prefer to go solo most of the time, but will have a core set of aspects that make it better when shared with others. The final pillar marks Housing out as an evergreen addition to the game — it will never be “finished” and always progress.

Blizzard also wants Housing to become a thing that every player wants to get into, be it for many hours or simply a couple of visits a month, so “if a player wants a house in Azeroth, they can have a house in Azeroth.”

It sounds like the requirements to get a plot of land won’t be very high — and Blizzard even took a shot at rivaling MMO Final Fantasy 14 by emphasizing that there will be “no exorbitant requirements or high purchase costs, no lotteries, and no onerous upkeep (and if your subscription lapses, don’t worry, your house doesn’t get repossessed!).”

When Housing launches in WoW, Alliance and Horde players will have access to one Housing zone per faction — more building zones are already being planned out, though. The Alliance will get a zone inspired by Elwynn Forest, Westfall, and Duskwood, while the Horde builds homes in an area inspired by Durotar and Azshara.

Blizzard wants to keep the number of Housing zones small, however, in order to reinforce the social aspect. The studio wants to create thriving neighborhoods instead of many spread out settlements. Adding a dose of pragmatic transparency to its arguments, the developer also admitted that creating Housing zones is “a lot of work.”

“We’d much rather do a great job with a small number of zones than do a passable job on a large number,” the devs added.

They also pledged to keep a “player-first and not revenue-first” approach, offering “hundreds and hundreds” of decorations and building pieces as unlockable in-game rewards. These pieces will not be character-bound, so you can use them across your roster — plus, your Alliance heroes can easily visit your Horde Housing and vice versa.

Neighborhoods will contain “roughly fifty” plots of land and there seem to be incentives to work together with your neighbors on certain projects to reap rewards. Although instanced, these areas are also persistent for their inhabitants, so your neighbors can stay the same for many years, if they don’t move somewhere else. Naturally, there will be public and private blocks, so friends or guilds can create their own little utopia.

According to the World of Warcraft roadmap for 2025, Housing seems set to arrive towards the end of the year. A new expansion for WoW titled Midnight will be revealed at the end of summer.