The upcoming Shadowlands expansion for World of Warcraft will finally be letting players change their genders and cosmetics without a fee.
In an interview with Eurogamer, Executive Producer John Hight stated players are free to change anything they want from their character by visiting any in-game barber. A familiar paywall seen be players will also be removed by the next major update for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, with Hight suggesting it created a barrier.
“We felt like that’s not the right message,” Hight said, adding the long-time mechanic would start with Shadowlands and couldn’t be simply fixed with past editions.
“Unfortunately we can’t fix that right now but it is our intent with Shadowlands to take that out of being a paid service thing and [put it] in the barber shop. But that’s not something we can easily hotfix – unfortunately we can’t do that right now,” he said.
The topic was brought up as Blizzard introduced Pelagos, World of Warcraft’s first transgender character trying to earn their Kyrian wings as a member of a joinable covenant. Hight added the inclusion would be a natural addition as players continue exploring the world.
“We don’t try to put a big focus on it and make it a big deal, we just try to make the game feel comfortable, friendly and approachable for everybody in the game, regardless of where they come from,” Hight said.
Shadowlands is the eighth expansion for its longtime MMORPG, set to release later this 2020. Players who survived the Battle of Azeroth will be granted passage into the Land of the Dead, while the Sylvanas claim the helm of the fallen Lich King in an effort to revive him.
