World of Warcraft Turns Interior Design into a Competitive Esport

Blizzard is ramping up its focus on the new housing feature in World of Warcraft. During the recent State of Azeroth stream, executive producer Holly Longdale announced the upcoming Azeroth Interiors contest, a “global renovation challenge” inviting community creators to showcase their skills in interior design with mood boards and creative flair.

This invitational competition will take place from February 17 to 24, pairing creators from around the globe into teams of “homeowner” and “builder.” The contest kicks off with a Pinterest board stage, followed by the actual builds, culminating in a live judging event where the six creations will be showcased. The winning design will even be featured as a custom listing on a real estate site. How cool is that?

Blizzard is heavily promoting housing in this expansion cycle, making the other new content and changes coming with the Midnight expansion on March 2 feel somewhat overshadowed. The State of Azeroth stream wrapped up with an impressive housing-themed trailer from Blizzard’s talented cinematics team, highlighting an adventurer who, after defeating an enemy, returns to her charming home in a lively neighborhood, using a spiked bracer as a stand for her coffee pot.

Continuing the housing theme, Longdale also shared that Blizzard’s next charity initiative will support Habitat for Humanity. Players can contribute by purchasing Roofus, a cute dog sporting a hard hat and tool belt, which comes with some pet décor items for your WoW home.

Additionally, any active subscribers who log into WoW between the State of Azeroth stream and the launch of Midnight will receive a Dark Portal décor item, a nod to the iconic portal to Outland/Draenor that first appeared in Warcraft 2 and has been a staple in the Burning Crusade and Warlords of Draenor expansions, as well as on WoW’s original login screen.

If all this has you considering a return to World of Warcraft or trying it out for the first time, there’s a free-access Welcome Back Weekend happening now until Sunday, February 1.