The next expansion for World of Warcraft will be the first in a three-part arc known as the Worldsoul Saga, and we now know when it will release. At the Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft-owned Blizzard Entertainment announced that The War Within will be available on PC on Aug. 26.
We first learned about the Worldsoul Saga, along with the follow-up expansions Midnight and The Last Titan, at BlizzCon 2023. With no BlizzCon planned for 2024, it makes sense that Blizzard would share the release date at the Xbox Showcase event. The War Within is already in beta testing, and players are poring over the content already available.
In The War Within, players finally tackle the issue of the giant sword that pierced the deserts of Silithus, left behind by the jailed Titan Sargeras. The world of Azeroth has been struggling with that great wound for years now. In the Battle for Azeroth expansion, both factions ended up warring over a new resource called Azerite, which began pouring forth from the land after that great sword strike. While the Shadowlands and Dragonflight expansions ended up getting sidetracked along other stories, it looks like we’re returning back to that plot in a big way.
The War Within includes Warbands, a cross-character progression system that allows players to benefit without having to split effort across alts, and quick dungeon runs called Delves which offer solo play sessions with intriguing rewards. We can expect to tour through Azeroth’s previously unexplored underground areas, like the ancient Nerubian kingdom, and the home of the Earthen — who will be joining both the Horde and Alliance as the next character race.