Horizontal Progression and a Lesson in Primary Sources
Another week, another supposed crisis for WoW: Forever that has players threatening to quit a game that hasn’t even launched. With hot takes flying around, I think it’s important to check our primary sources to see what Blizzard has actually said about horizontal progression.
# Important Edit
I had not seen this Blizzcon panel, but it has been pointed out in the comments that Ian made several comments that definitely could be interpreted as confirming more of a horizontal progression than what we are getting. I personally think it’s still in line with the vision that they’ve laid out for slower vertical progression with the biome system, but this is importantly to highlight:
Check out [this](https://youtu.be/9P8GXAj9qxI?si=A69KLylwEaXwiYbY&t=443) video and these quotes:
* "Where every step you earn, but what you earn matters and we're not going to replace it tomorrow in a patch or make it irrelevant." * "We're not looking to replace yesterday's content and say you should be doing this new thing." * "And this is a version of the game that can perhaps respect players' time more than any of the others"
Back to my original post.
# Blizzard’s WoW: Forever Content
So far, Blizzard has published the following information about WoW: Forever.
* [The WoW: Forever Website](https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/forever) * Blizzcon Presentations ([Opening Ceremony](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFJQgSkaacs), [What’s Next](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEX-i55We5c), [Deep Dive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQPS_QSOYCU), [Evolving a Timeless World](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsg2HmvLT-A), [Found Photographs,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDfA_S7fXOc) [Creator Showcase](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0B4Bw3ehHA)) and associated write-ups on Blizzard’s website. * Post Blizzcon Q&A and Podcasts ([Q&A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5zzSMSVhRo), Podcasts Weeks [1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m49-jvGPCkA&t=3171s), [2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDRcv_w85j8&t=4466s), and [3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwOWAf06YPg&t=1304s)) * Multiple Short Class Highlight Videos and Game Feature Videos
How many instances of the phrase “horizontal progression” are there across all of those sources?
**Zero\***
Blizzard has never used the phrase horizontal progression across all of their video and written materials, based on what I could find.
The only phrase they use that is close to horizontal progression is when they mention a “**horizontally expanding**, evergreen Classic Azeroth” during the Blizzcon What’s Next panel.
What do ”horizontally expanding“ and “evergreen” mean? Rather than making assumptions, let’s go see what Blizzard has actually said about this.
# Blizzard’s Interviews
In a [MMORPG article](https://www.mmorpg.com/interviews/blizzcon-2026-interview-chatting-wow-forevers-campsites-horizontal-progression-and-more-with-blizzard-2000138932) published right after Blizzcon, when asked about horizontal progression, Josh Greenfield (Aggrend) said:
”You know, at the end of the day, World of Warcraft is a vertical progression game, and that's part of the power fantasy, and we're never really going to take that away. But I think having a little bit more nominal power gains per step-up will help.”
More recently, Clay Stone made everything even more clear in an [interview with Inven Global](https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/26963/post-beta-wow-forever-what-is-the-development-direction).
“There is an important distinction here. When we talk about 'horizontal', we primarily mean expanding the world itself horizontally.
We can add new zones, dungeons, raids, and quests, as well as deepen professions or expand profession trees. Legacy systems can also be added continuously over time. Broadening the world sideways in this manner is what we mean by horizontal progression.
Looking strictly at gear progression, it isn't entirely horizontal. When a new raid tier is introduced, there will be a degree of power escalation between tiers. However, we aim to keep that power jump as narrow as possible.”
# Conclusion
Blizzard has been consistent since the announcement of WoW: Forever. Azeroth will continue to expand, with new dungeons, zones, raids, PvP content, legacy systems, etc.
Gear progression was never promised to be horizontal. Instead, Blizzard has said there will be vertical progression, but the power gap between tiers will be narrower than in Classic and there will be aspects of gear that keep it relevant for longer (like the “biome” effects that have you deal more damage to certain enemies and/or in certain places).
Unfortunately, some people heard “horizontal” and decided that meant that Blizzard was totally remaking the way that gear works in WoW: Forever. Suddenly, WoW: Forever was going to be WoW: Guild Wars 2 or WoW: OSRS!
Blizzard never said this, WoW Classic (which Forever/Classic+ is rooted in) did not use this purely horizontal model, and Blizzard has repeatedly expanded on what they mean in interviews, making it clear that they plan to have vertical progression
In the future, I ask people to please refer to what Blizzard has actually said about a topic, rather than assuming what you think they mean. Refer to primary sources, what the devs actually have said, rather than what content creators are saying Blizzard said or what people on Reddit are insisting Blizzard means. As this blow up has shown, oftentimes people don’t have any idea what they are talking about.
\*EDIT: Folks have pointed out that Blizzard has used the phrase “horizontal progression” to describe the Legacy System in at least [one place on the website](https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24303315/world-of-warcraft-forever-headlines-a-packed-wow-weekly). The point still stands that it has never been used in regards to endgame gear progression, but wanted to provide this transparent update