World of Warcraft is coming to Xbox, albeit in an indirect way. The next generation of Xbox console will reportedly be able to run Windows, meaning every PC program, from Microsoft Office to League of Legends, will be accessible through the system. This curated Windows gaming PC will be able to run World of Warcraft, making it the first official console release for the MMO giant.
While this news is understandably huge for console gamers, it also answers some huge questions that have been raised by World of Warcraft players recently. The Midnight expansion is making some sweeping changes to class rotations and addons in World of Warcraft that have caused no small amount of controversy among the community. However, WoW’s future console debut puts a lot of things into perspective and reveals a deeper reason why Blizzard has been taking such big swings.
World of Warcraft Making Even More Currencies Transferable in Midnight
World of Warcraft: Midnight adds several new entries to the list of currencies that can be traded between all characters across a player's Warband.
World of Warcraft: Midnight is Preparing For an Xbox Release
Blizzard is Making Big Changes in World of Warcraft’s Next Expansion
Any World of Warcraft expansion is going to include some big adjustments to how classes play, but Midnight is doing so in a big way. Though the breadth of these changes varies greatly from specialization to specialization, every single one is going to look different. However, all of these World of Warcraft class adjustments have something in common: the simplification of combat rotations.
That’s not all that’s changing in Midnight; Blizzard is making some significant alterations to World of Warcraft’s API to restrict certain addons from functioning. Seemingly being done to remove “required” addons, and to even the playing field for those who do not use them, many of the functionalities for popular plugins are being implemented into the game, such as a damage meter and boss warnings. However, these restrictions could spell doom for many popular World of Warcraft addons, ostensibly including:
- WeakAuras (confirmed, ending development)
- ElvUI (confirmed, pausing development)
- RCLootCouncil
- MethodRaidTools
- Details! Damage Meter
While Blizzard has given plenty of reasons as to why these changes were made, the true answer may lie in what it hasn’t said. According to "trusted sources" of Windows Central, the next generation Xbox console will be a glorified PC, with the ability to run any program available on the Windows desktop – it even specifically called out Battle.net and World of Warcraft as examples of what would work. While neither Blizzard nor Microsoft has confirmed that the class and addon changes have anything to do with this technical console port, it makes far too much sense for it to have been a factor.
The next-generation Xbox console does not currently have a name or release date yet, but rumors suggest it may arrive in 2027, and could be called “Xbox Prime.”
How WoW: Midnight’s Class Changes Will Help Console Players
While these changes may be controversial, many of them could be a big help to incoming console players. Fewer buttons and simpler rotations become easier to handle for fans who choose to use controllers. While WoW is not easy to play with a controller, it would not be a leap of logic to imagine World of Warcraft implementing an alternative input scheme to facilitate this transition for the console’s release, similarly to how Final Fantasy 14 does for PlayStation and Xbox players.
As for the addon API restrictions, everything that is known about the new Xbox console suggests these fans would theoretically be able to install addons as well, as they have access to Windows. Even so, there is no telling how many of these third-party applications would be optimized for consoles, so it is hard to say exactly how related the addon restrictions are to this.
Regardless, news of WoW for Xbox consoles makes a lot of pieces fall into place. User interface improvements and customization, Cooldown Manager, Combat Assisted Highlight, and One-Button Rotation are all great additions for WoW players on PC, but could be game-changers on consoles. These ground-level adjustments to World of Warcraft may not have been done solely to prepare it for a console release, but they certainly won’t hurt.
- Released
- 2026
- Base Game
- World of Warcraft
- Developer(s)
- Blizzard
- Publisher(s)
- Blizzard
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Proprietary
Source: Windows Central