World of Warcraft's next big update was just announced during BlizzCon 2021, though we all knew it was coming because Blizzard accidentally leaked it on Thursday. The announcement, though, confirms that Patch 9.1: Chains of Domination is a big'un that includes a new raid, a new mega-dungeon, new areas to explore in the Maw, and lots more. If you want to read an in-depth interview about it, head here.
Perhaps the most important thing, though, is how Chains of Domination is pushing Warcraft's story into some dark and exciting frontiers. The trailer for Chains of Domination is actually a cinematic cutscene that continues from the cliffhanger that left players worrying about Anduin's fate and what Sylvanas and her mysterious benefactor, The Jailer, had planned for him. We'll embed the trailer above as soon as it's available, but the gist of it is pretty grim: Anduin has now been made a thrall of the Jailer and is on a murderous rampage through the Shadowlands. Instead of wearing golden armor and looking like a very good boy who always says his prayers at night, he's now looking like he brushes his teeth with maggots and listens to Slayer. It's a cool transformation.
In addition to a new 10-boss raid, a new 8-boss mega-dungeon, and a new area of the Maw to explore, Chains of Domination will also improve the Covenant system and give players more ways to power up their Soulbinds and earn cool cosmetic armor sets themed after their Covenant.
We have a much deeper dive on Chains of Domination that you can read here.
After having to buff event rewards 4 times in a year, WoW director Ion Hazzikostas admits there's 'a pattern' and that 'we may tend to err on the conservative side'
World of Warcraft might not have invented the wheel, but it certainly made it popular—and 20 years on, the MMO titan has fundamentally changed gaming's DNA
