We analyzed this claim: is it true that
Blizzard has made 10-player and 20-player raids permanent parallel tracks in WoW: Forever, with 40-player raids exceptional and preparation-first difficulty?
Developer interviews between September 21 and 23 confirm a permanent two-tier raid structure and preparation-led battles, though character balance across all 27 specialization trees remains unproven ahead of launch.
Blizzard Promises Smaller Raids for WoW: Forever
Developers confirm permanent 10- and 20-player teams while 40-player battles become rare events.
In a nutshell
Blizzard Entertainment has committed to building its new online game, World of Warcraft: Forever, around permanent 10-player and 20-player cooperative team battles, leaving 40-player encounters as rare events. By rewarding players for clearing content across all three sizes and emphasizing advance preparation over mechanical trial-and-error, the studio allows gaming clubs to run lean, stable rosters without maintaining dozens of reserve members.
Highlights
- Blizzard confirmed that every content release is intended to feature both 10-player and 20-player raid tracks.
- The 40-player raid format is designated as an exceptional encounter, starting solely with the dragon Onyxia.
- Account-wide progression rules require defeating 22 opening raid bosses distributed across all three group sizes.
- Lead designer Tim Jones targeted viability for all 27 character talent trees without allowing single-class stacking.
From the Editor’s Diary
Reducing team sizes shifts the challenge of group gaming from logistics and scheduling to personal preparation and shared teamwork.
Who's involved
Blizzard Entertainment
American video game developer and publisher of World of Warcraft
goal → establish a sustainable classic game that supports smaller teams without modern high-end difficulty ladders
Tim Jones
lead game designer explaining the systems of Forever
goal → establish recurring 10- and 20-player team battles as a permanent standard while keeping all character specializations useful
Michael Nuthals
lead encounter designer who builds raid battles
goal → design team encounters focused on social planning and advance preparation rather than repetitive trial-and-error defeats
WoW: Forever raiding guilds
organized player communities that run endgame group events
goal → sustain reliable active rosters, complete all raid formats, and avoid carrying excess reserve players
In short
Blizzard Entertainment has altered how groups will play World of Warcraft: Forever, making 10-player and 20-player raids permanent fixtures rather than temporary experiments. In online role-playing games, raids are large organized team battles against powerful computer-controlled monsters. By moving away from older 40-player requirements, the studio removes the need for player clubs, known as guilds, to maintain massive rosters to see the game's final challenges.
This decision makes it likely that player groups will organize around lean, stable cores of 10 or 20 people and treat 40-player events as occasional outings. That outcome is near-certain because Blizzard tied account-wide progression rewards across all three team sizes, cementing the dual track into the basic rules of the game.
Whether the studio can deliver on its wider promises is too early to tell. Blizzard aims to keep all 27 character talent paths useful without making any single role dominant, while asking players to rely on advance preparation such as potions, equipment upgrades, and shared knowledge rather than hundreds of failed learning attempts. However, Blizzard has not published a fixed update calendar, explained how shared entry lockouts will function across different group sizes, or detailed how equipment rewards will be divided.
How it unfolded
Developer interviews turn raid structure into a promise
On September 21, two independent interviews revealed the future shape of high-level play. Tim Jones and Michael Nuthals described regular 10-player and 20-player group battles as a standing design promise, with 40-player encounters treated as exceptions. Jones also explained that careful advance preparation—gathering magical potions, enchanted equipment, and monster knowledge with friends—should lead to victory without dozens or hundreds of repeated failures.
Blizzard turns the raid blueprint into an enduring endgame contract
Over the next two days, the studio turned its launch plans into a lasting policy. Speaking to Windows Central on September 22, Jones stated that every future update should deliver new 10- and 20-player content, that all 27 character talent options should remain viable, and that the dragon Onyxia represents the lone 40-player battle at release. The following day, Blizzard published its Legacy rules, linking permanent account progress to defeating 22 opening bosses: 13 in the 20-player Hyjal Summit, eight in the 10-player Barrow Deeps, and Onyxia. The move firmly anchors guild life around compact teams rather than giant benches.
Where things stand
Developer statements through October 4 confirm that the 10- and 20-player format is a lasting commitment rather than a temporary experiment. The studio has firmly chosen accessible team sizes and preparation over punishing mechanical difficulty.
Practical details remain unresolved. Blizzard has yet to demonstrate whether all 27 talent trees will achieve true parity in live play, how weekly lockouts will restrict groups moving between team sizes, or how loot rewards will be balanced across the 22 opening bosses.