Overview
- Blizzard unveiled the Skyborne, a new Elf race with a shared starter zone called Zephras Isle, during WoW: Forever beta tests this week.
- The studio said it made Skyborne dual‑faction to avoid a repeat of the Blood Elf–driven population swing that flipped faction balance nearly 40 percent in The Burning Crusade.
- Developers chose one starter zone so they could add an extra leveling zone (the Riverglades) and keep launch scope manageable.
- The Skyborne will be sold as a paid add‑on reported at $30, a choice that has raised concerns among players about monetizing a new race in a Classic+ product.
- After beta feedback that Skyborne models looked too high‑fidelity next to older assets, Blizzard pledged HD and later SD visual adjustments, and said it is also working on server scaling before the planned November launch.