World of Warcraft devs under fire as new quest makes players complicit in sexual assault

World of Warcraft developer Blizzard has been called out by the gaming community for an upcoming quest that involves a major character being sexually assaulted, the dev team now speaking out on the issue and promising to make changes before the new Fractures of Time patch releases in July 2023.

The new WoW quest in focus is one called “A Missing Soul” and is part of the Fractures of Time patch that is set to release next month. It will largely lean on the time-traveling elements to the game that have become a big focus since the launch of the Word of Warcraft: Dragonflight expansion in November 2022.

The main part of the quest requires players to return a missing artifact that was used by the Dragonmaw Orcs. What was it first used for you ask? To sexual assault and torture the character Alexstrasza.

Since hearing about this quest, fans have begun slamming devs Blizzard for its inclusion and existence given that it involves the act of sexual harassment. In light of this, Blizzard has posted in the game’s Forum thread, acknowledging the outcry from fans and promising to adjust the quest before it releases later next month.

“We have seen the comments in the community regarding some Chromie quests in Fractures of Time on the PTR and we understand your concerns. We’ve been iterating and discussing all of these quests internally, and we’re in the process of adjusting and removing quests. These changes will be available in an upcoming PTR build. Thank you for your feedback!”

Fans have filled Blizzard’s response with comments about the quest. One user wrote, “Thank you, I also hope there is an internal review of why this quest was made and how it slipped past unnoticed.”

Another added, “I agree that the team should look to having reviews of subject matter and the handling of sensitive subjects if they are brought up. While this doesn’t affect me, the life experience of others can cause things like this to be distressing at a minimum. Those voices should be heard and considered.”

Time will tell what kind of changes Blizzard makes to this World of Warcraft quest before the patch releases. However, it is clear that fans are hoping it is scrapped altogether or at least completely reworked to remove what happens to Alexstrasza.

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