Leaked BlizzConline Press Kits Confirm Upcoming WoW Content

Have you ever noticed how Valve always seems to have the dates of every planned major Steam sale leaked pretty much every year and yet never seems to so much as bat an eye in the face of that leaked information? Blizzard Entertainment doesn’t typically have to deal with leaks of that magnitude anywhere near as often… until now. The company’s online-only version of their annual convention, which they’re calling “BlizzConline” in light of recent events, is scheduled to begin sometime today and continue through tomorrow.

However, quite a bit of particularly intriguing information concerning World of Warcraft is now in the hands of the venerable fan site Wowhead as a result of an apparent huge leak of press kits. Wowhead’s staff members have been kind enough to share that information with the world. I’m here today to provide as many of the details on that topic as I can. Let’s start with so-called “retail” (that is, non-Classic) World of Warcraft, as there’s quite a bit of leaked upcoming content as far as that’s concerned.

The first thing these leaked press kits appear to confirm is World of Warcraft: Shadowlands’ first major content update. This patch (presumably Patch 9.1) is officially entitled “Chains of Domination.” According to Wowhead, there are four primary aspects of the new content which players can experience once this update is live. The first of these aspects centers around the lost domain known as Korthia, the City of Secrets. While here, players will presumably focus their efforts on trying to stop the Jailer and his new cohort, Sylvanas Windrunner, from doing whatever nasty things they’ve got up their sleeves.

The second aspect of “Chains of Domination” will reportedly see players work to unite the strength of the four covenants in order to ultimately “launch an assault on the Jailer in his home territory.” Considering I haven’t yet ventured into the Maw as my main character isn’t level 60 quite yet, I can’t help but wonder how this assault might be organized and carried out. I’m reasonably certain that player characters will play pivotal roles in that process, seeing as how it almost always falls to us lowly mortals to save the day.

Next comes the aspect which will see players “brave treacherous, unexplored reaches of Torghast” in a new ten-boss raid known officially as the “Sanctum of Domination.” In my opinion, the most interesting thing the leaked press kits say about this raid is that players will eventually “come face-to-face with the Banshee Queen herself in a fateful confrontation.” Now, I have no idea if that phrasing translates to “there will be a boss fight against Sylvanas,” but I can tell you right now that I won’t be the least bit surprised if this ends up being the case.

There will also be a new eight-boss Mythic difficulty mega-dungeon known as Tazavesh, the Veiled Market. Intriguingly, the press kits say this dungeon will culminate in “a high-stakes heist to steal powerful artifacts from Azeroth.” I doubt these powerful artifacts are the same artifacts we wielded as weapons in Legion, but I must say, I’d be positively overjoyed if Blizzard proves me wrong on that. I also wonder if there will eventually be a Heroic-difficulty version of this dungeon, as there was with Battle for Azeroth’s Operation: Mechagon.

One final interesting note about this update is that, according to the leaked press kits, players will be able to work toward unlocking the ability to ride flying mounts while in any Shadowlands zone except the Maw. If this proves true, it comes as a pleasant surprise to me because we’ve often had to wait until the second or even third major patch for any given expansion in order to unlock flying. I can’t help but wonder how the process of unlocking flying in Shadowlands will operate. I guess time will tell.

Moving on, let’s switch gears for awhile so that I may briefly discuss the other major WoW-related update contained in these leaked press kits. Apparently, the upcoming existence of WoW Classic: The Burning Crusade has officially been confirmed by these press kits. I’m sure those of you who played during the non-Classic version of The Burning Crusade know all about what this expansion has to offer, but I’m glad to see that Blizzard is offering newer players the chance to see what lies beyond the Dark Portal for the first time.

There are two important things to know about the inclusion of The Burning Crusade into the realm of WoW Classic. The first of these is that you’ll have access to both WoW Classic and The Burning Crusade Classic at no additional cost over that of your subscription to the retail version of the game. I’m glad to see Blizzard hasn’t changed their policy on that front.

The second noteworthy thing on this topic is that according to Wowhead, “[p]rior to Burning Crusade Classic’s release, WoW Classic players can decide whether to advance each of their characters to the Burning Crusade era with the rest of their realm, or to continue playing the original WoW Classic content on new Classic Era servers.”

There you have it, my friends! I thought it was quite interesting to see this much information on one of Blizzard’s most prominent games leaked just a day before their online-only convention is scheduled to begin. What do you make of the leak? Are you excited for any of the upcoming content apparently confirmed within these leaks? Do feel free to share your thoughts in this article’s comments!