Forever on consoles? Blizzard's focus is still PC

WoW on a living-room screen with a controller in hand is easy to picture. What has actually been promised is a different question. With Forever, two things are easy to confuse: controller support in a PC game and a release on another device.

What did Ion say this time?

In Windows Central's September 19 interview, Ion Hazzikostas keeps the focus on PC. Controller support aims to make easier what players previously achieved through addons. He leaves future possibilities open, but this interview does not announce a console version.

That is a useful line to draw. An open-ended answer does not establish a platform, timetable or even that a console edition is in development. We would not make a hardware purchase around it or start waiting for a particular device.

Controller support can matter on PC alone

For us, the most interesting question is not yet the name of a console. It is whether a familiar game becomes comfortable in another position. Someone might want a change after a day at a desk; someone else prefers a stick for movement or needs an alternative to a mouse.

A controller does not guarantee accessibility by itself. Suitable options and a readable interface matter too. Reading small text from farther away, holding several buttons together and changing targets are different challenges from simply moving a character.

Those are questions we would evaluate, not promises about Forever's final settings. A welcome option for one player will not automatically meet another player's needs.

Everyday play matters as much as combat

If we were trying a controller, we would not start with the hardest dungeon. We would take an ordinary quest and see how smoothly the whole loop works:

• Can you select the intended enemy or friendly target without wrestling with the controls?
• Does collecting loot, using bags and selling items feel straightforward?
• Can you communicate with a group and return your attention to play quickly?
• Can you remember the controls without constantly checking the edges of the screen?

This is our editorial checklist, not a hardware test we have carried out. Those everyday transitions tell us more than a single impressive combat moment. Keeping a keyboard and mouse nearby would also be reasonable: choosing controls need not become a matter of principle.

There is a practical question beyond the console wish list

It is possible to welcome Forever's controller support without turning it into a prediction. We want to know how little attention the controls eventually demand, and how much attention remains for the world. Letting a player choose a comfortable way to play has value even without another platform announcement.

Our overview of Camping, presentation and controller support covers other optional systems. Players who prefer an older-looking interface can also read our ClassicUI Forever introduction.