World of Warcraft has solidified its place as one of the most enduringly successful video games ever. This month marks its 20th anniversary, during which it has continuously operated and generated monthly subscription revenue. However, could developer Blizzard ever opt for a sequel instead of continually updating and expanding the existing game? Game director Ion Hazzikostas shared with GamesRadar that while a sequel might be considered at some distant future, World of Warcraft 2 is not on the horizon, if it ever materializes.

"Theoretically, at some long, distant point down the line, that may be a question we grapple with seriously," Hazzikostas said about the possibility of starting afresh with a sequel for the game and its community. "But, for the time being, we have a huge, vibrant, and growing player community that we're excited to serve."

Hazzikostas further explained that World of Warcraft's success lies in its ability to reinvent itself repeatedly over the years from a technical standpoint. "We're constantly tearing out some old foundational system and replacing it with something that will scale to support our new server architecture, to support new graphics pipelines, to support new aspects of multiplayer interaction that the original game couldn't have imagined," he noted.

Currently, Blizzard's priority is to continue serving its millions of players to the best of their ability. "We are making the improvements that we think suit the modern audience best," Hazzikostas stated.

While several live-service games like Overwatch, Destiny, and Counter-Strike have seen sequels, World of Warcraft is sticking to its proven formula for now. Blizzard once attempted to create another MMO through its Titan project, which was eventually canceled, with some of its elements later incorporated into Overwatch.

Additionally, there is speculation about whether Blizzard might bring WoW to consoles. Following Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a Blizzard developer hinted at the possibility. "It would be very insincere to say that we're not, like… of course we're talking about that," WoW executive producer Holly Longdale said. "We are Microsoft now."

WoW's tenth expansion, The War Within, was released in August and has been hailed as one of the game's best expansions yet. The War Within's next major update is set to go full goblin mode.

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