Blizzard: WoW graphical reboot ‘may never be necessary’

A graphical reboot of mega MMO World of Warcraft “may never be necessary”, developer Blizzard has said.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com in an interview from Leipzig Games Convention last week, Wrath of the Lich King lead game designer Tom Chilton said that it may be possible that constant expansions “keep the game looking fresh” and that high tech has never been a priority for the developer.

Wrath of the Lich King is the second WoW expansion, following the release of The Burning Crusade in January 2007. It is currently without a release date, with the developer Blizzard sticking to its famous mantra: ‘It’ll be done when it’s done.’

When asked how many expansions Blizzard could make for WoW before a series reboot is needed, Chilton replied: “It may never be necessary. It may be possible that just through constant iteration we’re able to keep the game looking fresh enough. I mean for us it’s never been a priority to have the highest tech game on the market.

“For us usability is a lot more important. We want to make sure that our game runs very well on low system specs. We want to make sure that our engine supports our stylised look. So for us it’s really more that kind of iterative improvement works a little bit better for us.”

Chilton added that the team’s goal is to release an expansion for the world’s most popular MMORPG every year, but wouldn’t confirm that the post WotLK expansion would take any less time than previous iterations.

On the subject of annual expansions, he said: “It’s a goal that we have. We haven’t really got to that point yet. First and foremost what we do is we sit down when we decide to make an expansion, we decide what features we need to make a Blizzard quality expansion. Once we decide on that feature set we then go figure out how long it’s going to take us and take it from there.

“So we’re hoping to get to the point where we can deliver a Blizzard quality expansion in a faster amount of time, closer to every year. Whether that actually happens for the next expansion, I don’t know.”

For all your Wrath of the Lich King needs, be sure to check out our game page or head straight to the full interview.