WoW: Midnight Turns Azeroth Into a Hunt — ‘Prey’ Ambushes That Hunt You Back, Player Housing, New Haranir Race & Devourer Demon Hunter
Blizzard used Gamescom to show the cinematic for World of Warcraft: Midnight and to outline several concrete gameplay features due in 2026, including player housing, a new open-world ambush system called Prey, a playable Allied race, and a third Demon Hunter specialization.
- What the Midnight reveal covered: the cinematic, Prey ambush system, player housing access, the new Haranir allied race, Demon Hunter’s Void spec, four zones (including a reimagined Eversong Woods), a 40v40 battleground, and pre-orders.
Prey: random ambushes with tiered rewards
Blizzard described Prey as an open-world system where players pick up targets from an NPC and then hunt—or are hunted by—boss-like enemies that can appear anywhere in the world. Players will acquire Prey targets from Astalor Bloodsworn in the Murder Row district of Silvermoon City. Once assigned, a Prey target can attack at any time, including during quests or while fishing.
Prey targets come in three difficulty tiers: Normal, Hard, and Nightmare. Rewards for defeating Prey include cosmetics, mounts, titles, and housing items. The short video Blizzard shared demonstrates a bit of how Prey targets appear and behave.
Player housing and pre-order access
Player housing was shown on the Gamescom show floor and is available for attendees to try. In addition, pre-orders for Midnight are live now; pre-order packages include early access to player housing.
Pre-order details are available on Blizzard’s store:
Pre-orders for World of Warcraft: Midnight
New race and Demon Hunter spec
The expansion adds a new playable Allied race called the Haranir. According to the reveal, Haranir have a bioluminescent mushroom-jungle homeland named Harandar, and Haranir characters can join either the Horde or the Alliance. The reveal also introduces a third Demon Hunter specialization: Devourer, a Void-themed spec. Additionally, Void Elves can now be Demon Hunters.
Zones, battleground, and leveling updates
Midnight will take place across four new zones in the old world of Azeroth: Eversong Woods (a reimagined version of the Blood Elf starter zone), Zul’Aman (previously a raid location), Harandar, and Voidstorm. The expansion also adds a new 40-on-40 battleground called Slayer’s Rise.
Finally, Blizzard said Midnight will include an updated experience for new and returning players that highlights well-known NPCs such as Jaina Proudmoore and offers a streamlined version of The War Within storyline to bring players up to speed.
