Warcraft III: Reforged

Warcraft III: Reforged
Developer(s)	Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Blizzard Entertainment
Producer(s)	Pete Stillwell
Designer(s)	Matt Moris
Series	Warcraft
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows MacOS
Release	January 28, 2020
Genre(s)	Real-time strategy
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Warcraft III: Reforged is a remastered edition of the 2002 real-time strategy video game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion The Frozen Throne. Released on January 28, 2020, it adds revamped graphics, improved modding capabilities, an altered campaign, balance changes, and modern online Battle.net features.

Gameplay

Warcraft III: Reforged retains the gameplay of the original, but its development has spurred on balance changes to the game's multiplayer. These changes are also present in the original version of the game. Players from both versions are able to play with each other. Similarly to Starcraft: Remastered, both versions of the game will be under one client. Matchmaking is updated to have per-race ratings, similar to other Blizzard titles. The campaign's missions are altered to reflect World of Warcraft's designs of present locations. Other changes to gameplay are present in the campaign.

The campaign will have a new 'story mode' difficulty for newcomers.

Synopsis

Main article: Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos § Synopsis

Main article: Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne § Synopsis

Warcraft III: Reforged has the same plot as the original game, but possesses minor changes.

Development

Blizzard intended, along with a desire from the playerbase, to develop Starcraft: Remastered as a generally pure remake. In contrast, Warcraft III: Reforged is intended to be less pure. Producer Brian Stillwell said that “When we went to Korea [for Starcraft: Remastered] and talked with pros and people still playing in game rooms, the overwhelming feedback was ‘Please don’t change the game,’” Stillwell said. “‘Make it pretty, give us a modern matchmaker and then quietly step away, Blizzard.’ Getting those marching orders made the endeavor not just easier but more focused. But with Warcraft 3: Reforged, we’ve talked with the communities in Europe and in China [who say], ‘Hey, we don’t think this game is done' -- The goal is not just to give Warcraft 3 a new coat of paint, but “do more with it.”'

Story

Originally, Blizzard author Christie Golden was commissioned to work on an altered campaign. The campaign would be partially retconned to bring it in line with later Warcraft media. Some original voice actors would be replaced by those currently voicing their characters. However, due to fanbase reaction, this was scrapped. Though only the original intro cinematic was recreated, the others are remastered.

Custom content

The internal scripting language of Warcraft III, JASS, is joined by Lua, commonly used in scripting and custom content for other games, and for Blizzard's World of Warcraft. Lua is intended to make custom content creation easier and to expand it. Blizzard intends to make the editor more powerful. Other changes such as increased custom camera views and individual unit traits are introduced.

Per the end-user license agreement. users are required to irrevocably assign all copyrights for custom games created on Reforged to Blizzard Entertainment.

Release

At BlizzCon 2018 on November 2, 2018, Blizzard Entertainment announced Warcraft III: Reforged featuring remodeled characters and graphics with a prospective release in 2019. After Reforged's reveal, the game's first balance changes in years were announced. During Blizzcon 2019, the beta for the game began. This beta was restricted to those who pre-ordered the game.

Reforged was originally slated to be released in 2019, however, on December 17, 2019, Blizzard announced that the release would be delayed until January 28, 2020, stating that "as we started approaching the finish line, we felt we’d need a little extra development time for finishing touches".

Player response has been largely negative.