Asmongold: WoW devs ‘must take time’ on next expansion or risk final franchise flop

Asmongold has moved to allay panic over the rumored World of Warcraft expansion delay, claiming he actually sees it as a major positive for the heavyweight franchise, as long as the Blizzard dev team uses the extra time in pocket to build “another Legion” rather than the MMOs newer expansions.

“I would rather a massive content drought and another Legion,” he said, “rather than them try to push out another Shadowlands early and have it be dogshit again.”

The famous MMO streamer’s claims come after Blizzard announced several major changes coming to the fantasy title in Season 4. The general consensus from the wider WoW fandom is that these unveiled upgrades⁠—which include player-vs-player tweaks, and a big shuffle for the Mythic+ dungeon pool⁠—will see the franchise’s next expansion delayed for at least the next few years.

That is the best thing for the game though, Asmongold said on March 24, especially if the wait means Blizzard finally looks into the biggest problems plaguing the series.

“I think it’s fine,” he said. “You want to know why it’s totally fine? Because we can just play another game! It’s not the end of the world. There’s all these people saying like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t play World of Warcraft, I won’t be able to!’ Okay, just log-in, do missions, fuck around, play like that in the meantime.

“Enjoy the wait, know it will be better. Do I think they’ll take years and then just push out another Shadowlands? Well, on that front, we’re just going to have to see.”

For much of his career, Asmongold stuck exclusively to streaming WoW but recently moved away from the Blizzard franchise following a lengthy hiatus from Twitch streaming. The shocking shift has seen him playing more Lost Ark, Final Fantasy, and New World (while it stayed popular) over his original love.

During that time, Blizzard as a company has been put under the microscope regarding its development practices and its reportedly terrible treatment of employees.

The series also took a nose-dive in interest following the release of Shadowlands in November 2020, with many long-loyal players⁠—Asmongold among them⁠—stepping away from the lands of Azeroth following 17 years of playing.

And so, Asmongold says if WoW’s next ‘expac’ flops, he just won’t play.

“Let’s see what happens,” he said. “If Steve Danuser [the franchise’s narrative lead] can cook up something good that’s fun to watch and play then I’ll be happy about it. Now, will that actually happen? I think it’s hard to say. I’ve got a feeling that it’ll probably be better than Shadowlands.

“Here’s the thing though: I don’t really give a shit. If the expansion is bad, who cares? I’ll just play Lost Ark, New World, or Final Fantasy, or something. It’s not a big deal.”