Warcraft Arclight Rumble’s Reveal Didn’t Knock Off Any Socks, But WoW Fans Seem Mostly Okay With It

Blizzard’s first Warcraft mobile game is a Clash Royale-style strategy title called Warcraft Arclight Rumble, and while the larger World of Warcraft community isn’t exactly gnawing at the bit for more information, it doesn’t exactly hate the game either.

Community reaction to the mobile game has been a bit of a mixed bag. Many in the wider WoW community, particularly on Reddit, have remarked that the game isn’t their style, and that Warcraft Arclight Mobile doesn’t seem to be catering to Blizzard’s traditional audience. While there are plenty of fans who say they will give the game a try, there seems to be an equal number of WoW players who seem perfectly content letting Warcraft Arclight Rumble pass them by.

The game has, at the very least, received a more positive fan reception than Blizzard’s previous mobile game announcement, Diablo Immortal. When the first mobile Diablo game was announced at BlizzCon 2018, the fan backlash was angry and swift. Many in attendance and watching at home expected a Diablo IV or Diablo II remastered announcement, and instead were given a mobile game.

Blizzard’s Warcraft Arclight Rumble announcement smartly avoided repeating Diablo Immortal’s mistakes by having the reveal be far removed from any other Blizzard-related announcements and taking a more laid back, casual approach. The announcement focused on helping to convey the excitement of some of the developers working on the project, as well as made clear what the game was and who it was for.

Expectations were set properly this time around. Instead of fans expecting the new WoW expansion announcement and getting a mobile game, Blizzard wisely got the big news of Dragonflight out of the way weeks ago and set clear expectations for its upcoming announcements, clearing the air and giving Warcraft Arclight Rumble its own chance to shine. That likely has much to do with the announcement’s reception, which, while not exactly positive, also hasn’t caused yet another Blizzard controversy for the company to endure amidst ongoing sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits.

While Diablo Immortal’s initial announcement crashed and burned, three years later, the game seems to be back on track. Diablo Immortal is coming to PC as well as phones, with full cross-play and cross-progression. That doesn’t seem like it will be the case with Warcraft Arclight Rumble, which so far has only been announced for mobile devices. But fans don’t seem to care too much. It, after all, is very much a mobile-style game, and not a handheld RPG similar to WoW itself.

More than a few WoW players have remarked on how cool it would be if the mobile game could actually be played inside WoW. Much like the Warcraft-themed card game Hearthstone, Warcraft Arclight Rumble exists in the Warcraft universe as a new hobby to be played in taverns throughout Azeroth. While Hearthstone is referenced in WoW, it’s not playable in-game. That will probably be the case for Warcraft Arclight Rumble as well, but fans can still dream.

Given it’s a free-to-play mobile game, players are concerned about how Blizzard will monetize Warcraft Arclight Rumble. More than a few fans noticed the game’s cinematic literally opens with someone putting coins into a coin slot, which certainly sets an interesting tone. But from what Blizzard has said, the game will be focused on fairness, with only one type of currency that can be purchased but also earned in-game, and no random elements like loot boxes. Our own hands-on preview with the game states that a lot of the practices that give mobile games “a bad rap” weren’t present in the beta build of the game, for whatever it’s worth.

Warcraft Arclight Rumble doesn’t yet have a release date, but interested players can pre-register for the game now, with beta tests slated to start soon.