World of Warcraft: The War Within's art direction leans into Warcraft's history and a 'feeling of nostalgia', says lead artist

One of the defining themes of The War Within, World of Warcraft's next expansion, is revisiting the past.

Even the visual approach was carefully considered with Warcraft's long history in mind, lead visual development artist Gabriel Gonzalez said. The War Within, the first expansion in a three-expansion story arc announced last fall at BlizzCon, will be WoW's 10th, in the game's 20th year.

"One of the things that we're really leaning into is this feeling of nostalgia, the classic flavor of World of Warcraft," Gonzalez said.