In the wake of a number of rumors anddatamine leaks of Shadowlandsthat seem to point towards a console port ofWorld of Warcraft, Blizzard has come forward to explain the current situation happenning behind the scenes. With an reply on theWorld of Warcraftforum to a fan’s question, Blizzard has confirmed that the company has been working on controller support for the game, reducing the need for mods.
This new information comes from Randy “Kaivax” Jordan, the Community Manager forWorld of Warcraft’s, as he replied to fans who were sharing the datamined findings that suggested controller support might be coming to the game. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this is a hint at ports or anything else expanding beyond theupcomingShadowlandsexpansion.
Kaivax specifically mentions in the post that Blizzard has been looking at how some players have been utilizing modded tools, such as ControlPort in order to bring controller support toWorld of Warcrafton their own. It would seem that the amount of players using these tools is fairly small, but not insignificant enough to not catch Blizzard’s attention. So as a way to make the game more accessible to as many players as possible, which is why the development team is currently working on adding controller support with theShadowlandsexpansion.
The exact wording in Kaivax’s post, however, does seem to suggest that the inclusion of gamepad or controller support, while compatible with PS4 and Xbox One controllers, isn’t a stepping stone towards a new port ofWorld of Warcraft. Instead, the focus seems to be on giving devices like theincreasingly accessible Xbox Adaptive Controllerthe ability to control the camera, player movement, and even keybindings. So, while Blizzard’s epic MMORPG isn’t necessarily coming to consoles at the moment, more people are going to be able to come toWorld of Warcraftin general thanks to these accessibility features.
It’s unfortunate thatWorld of Warcraftwon’t be coming to consoles anytime soon, even though there is likely a market for it, especially on next-gen platforms like the PS5 and Xbox Series X. However, it is always good news to see game developers looking at how they can make their games more accessible and allow everyone to join in on the fun. Meaning, asShadowlandsdrops, it may introduce a whole new subset of gamers to some of thebest areas fromWorld of Warcraft.
