Blizzard Entertainment’s action strategy game Warcraft Arclight Rumble is the first World of Warcraft game for mobile devices. Here’s what to expect from Activision Blizzard’s free-to-play game when it’s released later this year.
World of Warcraft has been trendy and successful for Activision Blizzard since its launch in 2004. However, Arclight Rumble is its first foray into mobile games. It’s also the first time the series is returning to the real-time strategy format, which hasn’t been utilized since Warcraft 3. While the Southern California-based video game company hasn’t confirmed the release date for the mobile game, which will be available on the App Store and Google Play, it’s expected to drop in the second half of 2022.
According to gamers, besides the real-time strategy, a few of the best aspects of Activision Blizzard’s Warcraft Arclight Rumble are that it’s free to play, features a captivating visual style, and offers a dense single-player campaign. “Free-to-play gamers can unlock new units and progress through the campaign at a solid pace without having to spend money,” stated entertainment journalist Momo Tabari. “After 20 hours of playtime, I’ve been able to earn Gold and level up units without feeling like the in-game store is holding me back. Although the game is nowhere near as complex as Blizzard Entertainment’s other real-time strategy games, it still requires thoughtful coordination and planning to succeed against its hardest Leaders.”
Activision Blizzard: What Is Warcraft Arclight Rumble?
Activision Blizzard’s first mobile Warcraft game offers initial tutorial-based stages so that players can learn the game’s mechanics, such as where to place Minis, how to cast spells, and mine gold. According to Tabari, “Arclight Rumble is a beginner-friendly real-time strategy game, focused more on progression through the player leveling up their units than hard-core tactics. After every match, whether it’s a success or failure, a random unit on your team is given a bit of experience.”
Quests are another way to gain experience. The quests are randomly selected from Common, Rare, and Epic quality. “With this system, players select one of three random units they own and can engage with a mission to grant them an experience boost. At my level, winning a normal match grants nine experiences, but doing a Common quest awards 15, with Rare and Epic providing 45 and 90, respectively. Rare is always three times the base, and Epic is always six times it,” explains Tabari. Gamers can only challenge levels if they meet the skill requirements, which forces players to move through the game linearly.
“Arclight Rumble handles diversity between campaign missions well enough, providing 65 unique fights, with each Leader boasting an entirely different gimmick. Leaders have their own maps, and players sometimes need to shake up their strategy to defeat them. I’ve had a situation where my level 12 units went up against a level 8 Leader, but my careless confidence resulted in the enemy overpowering me and taking control,” says Tabari. “There’s one Leader that can turn your melee units into chickens, which means you’ll need your offensive to be primarily made up of ranged units. Another Leader spawns a terrible monstrosity called Patches, who will instantly kill the first unit it comes into contact with, meaning you’ll have to throw a cheap Mini in his direction to force him to use that ability. And if you don’t kill Patches fast enough, he’ll use that move again.”
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick Talks Mobile Games
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick understands that free games on phones are a good way to grow the company’s gaming audience. “Every year, we’re creating new-from-the-ground-up potential franchises as well. In fact, we have some of the largest franchises in video games and the franchises are a very good road map for a long-term future,” he said. As an example, he cited the company’s popular mobile game Candy Crush, which has over 100 million people who play it on a monthly active user basis.
“Mobile, in fact, is now our leading platform. The business model for Call of Duty Mobile is free to play, which enables the rapid development of a large community of players with the option to purchase digital items and services, as well as our ability to generate advertising revenues. We successfully developed a great game through mobile,” Kotick said. “Our franchisees have the power to attract far bigger audiences than previously. We are hard at work on high-quality mobile games for all of our most important franchises.”