9. Rendering Updates
Clay Stone: Thanks, Nora. And hello, BlizzCon! My name is Clay Stone and I’m the Associate Production Director on the World of Warcraft: Classic and World of Warcraft: Forever team. So, we’ve talked a lot about things you might be expecting, but let’s take a minute and talk about some things perhaps you weren’t expecting.
Water Rendering
Let’s start with our rendering updates. You got to see a bit of this in our gameplay trailer during the opening ceremony, and admittedly, we went pretty hard. Not every zone is going to be set at sunrise or sunset all the time. But I want to make a bold, controversial statement. We believe WoW Classic’s art style is timeless, which is why our focus was not on changing the game art, but on small ways we could push specifically things like the environmental effects.
Such as the way rivers now flow in Elwynn Forest. Or the way the fog rolls into Duskwood at night.
Lighting Rendering
Or the way the moonlight now breaks through the leaves of the trees in Ashenvale. It’s the same original Azeroth that players fell in love with all those years ago, with just a few small but powerful effects updates to make it more immersive than ever.
Camping
Next, let’s talk camping. So in addition to the new professions content arriving elsewhere in World of Warcraft: Forever, with camping we are doubling down on trade skills. Almost anywhere in the open world, players can craft a campsite. Other adventurers can stop by, stay a while, and use their trade skills to craft something for the campsite, granting everyone there a specific buff.
When we think about our core pillars and nurturing and protecting social experiences, this is one of those things we’re talking about. And because players need to sit there for a moment before they gain any buffs, maybe just maybe they just might talk to each other.
Legacy System
If camping is us doubling down on trade skills and community, World of Warcraft: Forever’s new legacy system will see us tripling down on an element of Classic that is only found in Classic. The 1 to 60 leveling journey. For as epic as Endgame is, and I promise you, while Forever’s Endgame is epic, we know that there are some players who just love the Classic leveling journey.
Although the legacy system benefits everyone, it very much aids players who love to run Alts as they unlock new perks across their Alts by achieving new goals on each new leveling journey.
Community
We are really excited about this one and how well it fits in the Classic WoW design philosophy. Now I’d like to switch gears and talk about the Community. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time as part of this Community, it’s that players love to debate what is and is not Classic.
Players discuss in social, in forums, and even make polls. And if there’s one thing every player agrees on, it’s what is Classic+?
(Community content creator video clips played onscreen)
Starforge Systems: “When I took this survey, I was like, oh, my gosh, yes. Blizzard is gonna see this and we’re gonna be able to have proof and say, look, this is what we want, Blizzard. Now you can do it. In reality, after looking at this data, it’s like (laughter) it’s the exact opposite of what I thought. It’s the exact — oh my gosh, like it’s literally proving — (rubs eyes) that like nobody knows what we want. Like it’s hilarious, bro.”
Transmog
So, since we’re all in agreement on what we want, let’s talk Transmog. Now some of you are saying, yes, finally. This is my moment, I feel seen. But we know some of you are saying, Transmog? Not in my Classic+. (smiles) We say, is it too much to ask for both?
In World of Warcraft: Forever, Transmog is entirely opt-in. If you want to turn it on, it’s on, and everyone you see in the world will look their very best. But for Classic players, especially those of us who enjoy World PvP, many of us want to see other players for who they truly are and what they’ve accomplished. So turn it off, and it’s clown suits for everyone.
Throughout the world, you decide, there is a lot more to learn about the Classic modifications we’ve made to this system for those who choose to use it. Stop by tomorrow’s Deep Dive panel to learn a lot more about this, as well as the Camping and Legacy Systems and much more.
For now, let me move on to another absolutely not at all controversial topic: Character Models.
Character Models
Now, many players enjoy WoW’s newer HD character models, but many of us also feel that Classic’s art style is timeless, as I said before, and deserves to be preserved — which is why we’ve made it completely toggeable game-wide, your character, the NPCs, other player characters together, unified in either HD or SD. For fellow Classic players, that means you get to see all the beloved original races rendered in their glorious original SD designs. And for those of you who prefer a more modern aesthetic, you can go with the modern HD designs. You choose what you see.
Character Models Animation
Oh, and there is one more thing. We feel like Classic’s animations are just as important as its art style. You will see a newer modern HD Dwarf running with its modern animation sets. Now let me show you that same HD Dwarf running while attached to the Classic animation sets.
I am so proud to announce that we have gone back and painstakingly restored the Classic animations you know and love across the game’s HD character models.
No bouncy dwarves in this game. So let’s see. We’ve talked about a few new zones, the new race, nine new dungeons, two new raids, classes, systems, but friends, this is only a glimpse of World of Warcraft: Forever. We simply don’t have enough time to talk about new professions content, new reputations, all the new itemization reward updates, blowing up much of the old meta, the new PvP system, our first new Legendary item, our change to writing skill to preserve that Classic, Classic moment when you finally earn your right to ride your first mount, our official support of Gamepads for players who prefer to play using controllers, playable this weekend on the show floor in an in-development state, by the way, and of course, the integration of previously unfinished and unused vanilla WoW content.
Roadmap
But that’s all now. I want to take a second to talk about where we’re going. We have learned a lot since Season of Discovery, including the benefits of a strong roadmap, which is why we are building World of Warcraft: Forever in the way it was originally conceived back in the early 2000s, but with everything we’ve learned from the past 25 years.
A fast-paced production for a slow-paced game, which will allow us to deliver where we go from here. We have big plans for the coming months. You will see new raids unlock on December 9th, followed by even more new raids, new dungeons, PvP updates, world content, and so much more. All in addition to the original vanilla WoW content.
And this includes new quests throughout the leveling 1 through 60 journey as we add to this horizontally expanding evergreen Classic Azeroth.
And I want to take a second to briefly point to that major updates box right there in the Summer at the far end. It’s a few words there that say revamped iconic raid. There’s been a lot of speculation about when this game could take place, which is why I want to reiterate that this game takes place at the beginning of World of Warcraft and tells stories authentic to that time period.
The original iconic raids that you know and love have not opened yet, and we’re excited for you to rediscover them in the future. But friends, this is just a taste of the year ahead and not even a peek at where we’re planning to go beyond this. However big you think this game is based on what you’ve seen so far, I promise you it is so much bigger than that.
Our ambition is mighty, but more importantly, we have room to pivot based on community feedback. We are building this game with you and we are not just building for today, but for something that lasts and nothing is off the table, not even a new class?
Going back to this roadmap, you may have noticed there’s a big gap right there, right around the Winter timeframe. Let’s discuss that. But first, I want to take a second to talk about a picture that was framed and has hung on my wall at Blizzard since 2023.
Hardcore represented a turning point for us as a team. We had tried a few things before it, and as Ion covered, we’ve absolutely tried new things since, but Hardcore represented the moment when Blizzard and the community came together and showed not only why World of Warcraft is one of the greatest games ever made, but why that original adventure still holds so much promise for where we could go in the future.
Which is why I’m also so proud to announce that Hardcore will be coming to World of Warcraft: Forever as well.
Please check out hte Hardcore panel tomorrow for a look at World of Warcraft: Forever (Hardcore). To me, Hardcore was the start of a promise and World of Warcraft: Forever is not some experimental seasonal realm nor some recreation of where we have already been. World of Warcraft: Forever as a name and a logo represents a promise and if you happen to pick up the Collector’s Edition, we hope you love the logo on the box, and when you open that box, we hope you love it on the game box, and when you see what else is in that box, we hope you love your very own dwarf and bear statue which signifies where this all began, not just with Hardcore, but also way back in November of 2004.
On behalf of the WoW Classic team and the entire World of Warcraft team, thank you. When I started on Classic, our dream was to get here. We are here because of you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your feedback. Thank you for believing in this dream. I’ll see you in-game on November 4th. Beta starts this Thursday (Sept 17, 2026), and you can play the demo here today. Have a great BlizzCon, everyone.
[Editor]: Hope you enjoyed the transcript. Thank you all so much for reading Blizzplanet content since 2003, keeping the lights on possible! My content will always be free to read. If you’d like to buy me a donut, help keeping the website hosting’s account active, or help fund the next project, you may support me directly via PayPal. I plan to transcribe the top BlizzCon 2026 panels: WoW, Diablo V, Overwatch, and Warcraft III: Forsaken Kingdom (and a few others).
| BLIZZCON 2026 WORLD OF WARCRAFT: WHAT'S NEXT PANEL TRANSCRIPT | ||||
| 1. Intro | 2. Design Pillars | 3. New Zones | 4. Cultures | 5. Dungeons |
| 6. Raids | 7. PvP | 8. Classic Updates | 9. Rendering Updates | |
