World of Warcraft lead teases there'll be "a lot of death" for "important characters" during the MMO's Worldsoul Saga, so pray for your favorites

This year's Midnight expansion marks the second act of World of Warcraft's universe-altering Worldsoul Saga, and there's tragedy on the way, whether it arrives now or slightly later. Designed to mark 20 years of the MMORPG, there will be casualties in the epic multi-part story, and chances are at least one of your faves might be among them.

"There will be important characters that do not survive the trilogy," Maria Hamilton, design director on World of Warcraft, explained to PC Gamer. "It'll be a lot of death, I'm afraid. Those are hard decisions. We have arguments about, 'Is this the right time? What will we do with that person gone?'"

Currently, the forces of Azeroth are rallying against Xal'athat, a cosmic being who hails from the Void, in an effort to prevent everything from being consumed by total darkness. This trilogy, started by The War Within and to be wrapped up in The Last Titan, is working toward a gigantic standoff between the power of light and the encroaching shadows, digging deep into Warcraft lore all the while.

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Telling this kind of story effectively requires stakes, and it's good to hear the team at Blizzard isn't shying away from that. Continually evolving a game like this means embracing impermanence, no matter how long someone has been around. Nothing is safe, but when done right, these are the kind of twists that make sticking around completely worthwhile.

Don't think anything's been forgotten either, even if it takes a while - potentially a long while - to come back up. "Sometimes Chekhov's Gun, or Chekhov's Sword as the case may be, is going to lie there for a couple of expansions before something comes of it," Ion Hazzikostas, game director, adds, alluding to the gigantic blade that was plunged into the planet during Legion back in 2016. "Get used to that."

It's an interesting time to be a WoW player, that's for sure. Midnight is due to arrive on March 2.

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