World of Warcraft dataminers may have uncovered what could be the next major update for Classic WoW—rumored to be coming just a few months before BlizzCon, where a sizable change for the game has already been teased.
According to a report from WoWhead, dataminer Stiven has identified heroic and epic licenses tied to “World of Warcraft Camelot.” These entries appear to be separate from the current release of World of Warcraft, which points to Classic WoW as the most likely version to receive a new enhancement.
This development follows the earlier discovery of a mysterious patch 1.6 for Classic WoW found within an encrypted vendor build. That find led many players to believe Camelot could be the much-anticipated Classic Plus.
For years, fans of Classic World of Warcraft have imagined a more expanded take on the original experience—similar to how Jagex developed Old School RuneScape alongside its newer counterpart. Blizzard’s recent behavior now makes it plausible that such an expansion is being prepared.
In particular, Blizzard has lightly teased a big Classic World of Warcraft announcement for this year’s BlizzCon. In January, executive producer Holly Longdale was interrupted during the State of Azeroth presentation while mentioning that Classic WoW players have “a lot to anticipate” about a certain upcoming revelation.
There’s also been an ongoing trend of shutdowns affecting World of Warcraft private servers. Classic WoW private servers have existed for years, typically drawing little attention—until recently. The wave of Classic WoW server closures has encouraged some to think Blizzard may be preparing its own improved take on Classic WoW.
Just this week, for instance, Blizzard sent a cease-and-desist notice to Ascension WoW, a private server that overhauls core parts of the original game, including its classless character system. And roughly two months ago, Blizzard obtained an injunction against Turtle WoW, another well-known Classic WoW private server, which was then ordered to stop running.
In the end, the accuracy of these recent datamines will only be confirmed over the next few months. BlizzCon has often delivered major announcements, and if Classic Plus really is nearing release, we’ll probably learn more this September.