"It's something we couldn't do in the past" How World of Warcraft: The War Within has one zone at its foundation

World of Warcraft: The War Within, is almost here. It’s an ambitious looking expansion, taking players deep underground to lands and cultures unseen up until this point. But according to associate design director Maria Hamilton and lead prop artist Jordan Powers, this new selection of zones was built on the back of one special zone.

“I’d say we learned from Zaralek Caverns” states Hamilton. “We were trying to make Zaralek Cavern big enough that it didn’t feel too tight or constrained, and we realized we needed these moments where things were vast and unconstrained, even if we were underground. Hollowfall pretty clearly points to us doing that. You come out of the Ringing Deeps and there’s this vast, vast cavern.”

Hamilton continues, “We’ve been setting up our journey underground for quite a while. We had to get some tech improvements in so that we’d be able to do that effectively, without loads and with that level of depth we wanted. Hence Zaralek Caverns! It was our first opportunity to have that seamless layer underneath another layer. It’s something we couldn’t do in the past.”