Blizzard wants to bring archaeology back to World of Warcraft, but with "more fun" gameplay

If you're like me and always wanted to try your hand at archaeology in World of Warcraft, or are now an unwillingly retired excavator, according to a recent Q&A with Game Director Ion Hazzikostas, it seems like Blizzard isn't set on letting the secondary profession collect dust forever.

While old content still exists for archaeology for players to complete in the MMO, it has been largely left alone since 2020's Shadowlands Expansion - with the last set of content releases for it grinding to a halt over five years ago during Battle for Azeroth.

In a recent Q&A hosted in the official WoW Portal Room Discord server, one segment touched on professions and secondaries. Hazzikostas stated: "I think several of those [secondaries] are overdue for a closer look. Nothing to announce right now, but the team is definitely discussing some potential improvements there for Last Titan."

Regarding archaeology specifically, he goes on to add that he thinks "the fantasy of it is great. Some of the things you could get from it and feeling like some of the lore tidbits that were revealed through archaeology. I think there's a lot of value there." Stepping back from the profession was a data-led decision, coupled with player feedback, and developer's own experiences around a lack of excitement around "the actual moment to moment gameplay of archaeology." However, Hazzikostas goes on to give fans of the profession a spark of hope, stating that "we would love to look at ways of delivering that fantasy of researching and uncovering bits of data and ancient relics from lost civilizations in a way that maybe is more fun in a moment to moment sense."

Whether we'll see a reboot of secondary professions remains to be seen, but the possibility of a chance to don my Lara Croft or Indiana Jones hat in World of Warcraft with brand new content is something that would make Last Titan an instant buy.