There was a lot of World of Warcraft news to unpack at BlizzCon 2023. Developer Blizzard Entertainment unveiled the Worldsoul Saga, a seismic story that will unfold over three expansions – beginning with The War Within in 2024. With a new region to explore, hero talents to unlock, and plenty more besides, it's proving difficult for individual features to break out over the noise. Well, besides the introduction of Delves, that is.
Delves have quickly made an impression with the wider World of Warcraft community. Blizzard has designed this new endgame pillar as a complement to dungeons and raids for The World Within expansion, specifically targeted to solo players, those who may be short on time, and groups who are lacking in class depth. As I discussed Delves with senior game designer Sean McCann at BlizzCon, I let slip that my friend group always used to struggle to play together because we all rolled Fire Mages and nobody was willing to switch to an alt.
"Ironically, that was the example we used when we were pitching internally," he laughs. "If you have five Fire Mages, you can run a Delve. I'm not even joking. So I would say that if you know five Fire Mages, then you can go ahead and do a Delve. We'll absolutely let you do it."
BlizzCon 2023 recap: The triumphant return of Chris Metzen pushes Blizzard past some missed opportunities
Friend groups obsessed with the damage numbers given off by Pyroblast aside, Delves also serve a few other essential corners of the playerbase. McCann tells me that Delves have been shaped by "all the learnings" the team has accrued from developing from Torghast, Islands, Garrisons, and Scenarios over the years. Ultimately, the 12 launch Delves are being positioned as another way for you to stay connected to World of Warcraft. "If you have ever logged on and felt like there's just nothing for you to do, here's a new option."
Production designer Michael Bybee also notes that Delves are a great option if you're trying to juggle playtime with parenting – given that most can be completed in around 15 minutes – or if you're trying to bring a group together which spans multiple skill levels. "The challenge of trying to find the perfect group that likes the right challenge at the same time, who is actually ready to play, is hard – I think Delves is going to be really good for that."
"You know, my dad and my son play World of Warcraft. My dad is getting a little older, and he's doing like Mythic +2 runs; meanwhile my son is dragging us through Mythic +20 and we can barely keep up. The fact is, it's hard for us to all play together because there's such a skill gap there," Bybee continues. "Having Delves in the game will give us a little more flexibility in how and when we can choose to play together, and I think it's a really exciting thing to have."
The other big breakout feature from World of Warcraft: The War Within? That would be Warbands. And no, you're not alone, even WoW's production director is excited about cross-character transmog.
