Warcraft 3 fans have waited 23 years: At the BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony on September 12, Blizzard surprisingly released "Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom" – the first completely new story campaign for the real-time strategy veteran since "The Frozen Throne" in 2003. Instead of just delivering another remaster update, the community is getting tangible new content for a game most had long considered narratively complete.
What's special: Forsaken Kingdom wasn't just a vague teaser, but was directly playable upon announcement. Anyone who already owns Warcraft III: Reforged could get the expansion from the Battle.net Shop that very evening.
What is the new campaign "Forsaken Kingdom" about?
The expansion closes a gap that has existed for over two decades: the four years between the end of Warcraft III and the founding of Undercity in World of Warcraft. A four-part prologue called "Last Days of Lordaeron" first retells Arthas' fall – the plundering of Lordaeron and his ascent to the Lich King. The main campaign then follows the freshly undead Forsaken warrior Garek Bandarion, who, together with Dark Ranger Anya and in the vicinity of Sylvanas Windrunner and the Forsaken, carves out a new existence in the kingdom's ruins. According to Blizzard, the storyline is structured as a semi-open RPG, modeled after the Rexxar campaign from "The Frozen Throne" – meaning less rigid mission grinding, and more exploration between battles.
What does Forsaken Kingdom cost and how long is the playtime?
Blizzard estimates the new campaign's scope at around 30 hours of playtime – a considerable figure for an RTS expansion. Key facts at a glance:
- Release: September 12, 2026, coinciding with the announcement at BlizzCon
- Price: $29.99 USD as an expansion for owners of Warcraft III: Reforged
- Bundle Price: $49.99 USD for Reforged plus Forsaken Kingdom together
- Scope: Approximately 30 hours of new campaign content, divided into a four-part prologue and the main story
- Setting: Closes the narrative gap between Warcraft III and the beginnings of World of Warcraft
- Side note: Blizzard also added a new graphics mode for Reforged on the same day
If you want to check it out yourself, the official trailer is directly available from Blizzard – complete with camera panning through burning ruins and the familiar Reforged visuals.
For all background information directly from Blizzard, the official announcement post is also worth reading.
Why is this a growing trend in the industry right now?
This is purely our own classification and not part of the original announcement: Forsaken Kingdom joins a noticeable surge of surprise expansions for ancient PC classics in 2026. The Witcher 3 is also currently receiving new story content with "Songs of the Past," alongside titles such as "Thief Remastered: The Tarnished Mirror," "Quake: Dawn of the Machine," and "Age of Empires 3: The Baltic Powers." The common denominator: These games still sell reliably on Steam & Co. years after release, while many new blockbusters struggle for attention. For publishers, a new campaign for a 20-year-old game is often a more calculable risk than a completely new project. Incidentally, anyone interested in Blizzard's side of this development should also take a look at the plans for World of Warcraft: Forever presented concurrently at BlizzCon – both announcements came on the same evening.
From our perspective, this is one of the more pleasing developments of recent years: Instead of just technically polishing a 23-year-old game, the Warcraft story is actually getting new, canonical content – and that's despite everyone potentially being busy with World of Warcraft and Warcraft Rumble spin-offs.
Source: PC Gamer
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