by theygamesStrange as it may seem, in over 20 years of existence, World of Warcraft has never let you buy a house. You can do almost anything else typical of the genre in Blizzard’s MMO, in which many tropes and archetypes have been defined, but owning your own home just never became part of life in Azeroth. Soon that’s changing, and Blizzard’s revealed how the process will work.
As part of the MMORPG‘s 2025 rollout, World of Warcraft is getting a housing market. Real estate will become available across Azeroth, for players to buy, decorate and use as they see fit. It’s something that’s been in high demand for some time now, since other stalwarts such as Final Fantasy 14 and The Elder Scrolls Online have had houses available for years.
Better late than never, the fantasy game will be letting you create your own homestead, and Blizzard has outlined the core philosophies that’ll underpin the feature. Fundamentally, Azeroth’s housing market will be about customization, collaboration, and being an evergreen facet of the multiplayer game‘s experience.
The first part comes down to all the decorating you’ll be able to do – arguably the greatest part of having your own property. The second and third are what sound special. The initial wave of houses will break ground in both both Alliance and Horde territory. While there’ll be private and public neighborhoods, there won’t be a multitude of zones, because Blizzard wants to maintain a communal aspect to taking advantage of the option. And the Alliance-Horde divide is the easiest place to start when rolling out the toolset to being with.
On top of that, houses will be easy to get. As noted in a news blog, there will be “no exorbitant requirements or high purchase costs, no lotteries, and no onerous upkeep” for any purchases. Any houses bought can be used by any other members of your warband too, so you can make somewhere your homebase if you’d like, and building won’t be taken away if your subscription lapses.
The mention of lotteries and purchase costs is a distinct contrast to Final Fantasy 14, whose market has had pretty serious problems with supply and demand over the years. A switch from fastest-bidder-first to a lottery fixed some of the frustration, but it’s still an imperfect system can leave people waiting some time for an in-game home. There’s often value in being late to a party, and one benefit is seeing where your rivals go wrong and learning a lesson without making the same mistake.
No timeframe is given just yet on when we can expect to see houses in World of Warcraft. Have a look at our guides to the best WoW addons and the Plunderstorm rewards for what else is worthwhile in Azeroth right now.
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