WoW Forever: Blizzard wants it playable on any device

WoW Forever launches on PC with native controller support, and Blizzard sees that as a starting point. Asked in an interview whether a PC-only launch was a missed opportunity, World of Warcraft executive producer Holly Longdale said the aim is to let people play it wherever they want and, at some point, on whatever they want.

Longdale called getting gamepads to work really well the first leg of that journey and said Forever was the perfect place to start. Pointing to Project Helix, she said she expects platforms to become more ubiquitous, and that the gamepad work will give players a flexibility that goes beyond consoles. Associate production director Clay Stone added that players have already got the game running on handheld PCs, and that someone even modded a Nintendo DS.

This is not a console announcement. Blizzard has not named a platform or given a date, and the remarks come from one interview. What is confirmed is the controller support itself, which went into the beta and launches with the game.

Stone also said the team wants to preserve meaningful friction in Forever: running between places, grouping up to see content and no flying. Forever will not go through the Dark Portal, though he said there are other parts of Azeroth the game could visit one day. Forever launches for Europe at midnight on 5 November in Central Europe, and you can compare the realm types before then.