The War Campaign is officially ending in patch 8.2.5 — but what does that mean for patch 8.3 and the end of Battle for Azeroth?

For those of us who are focused on Battle for Azeroth there’s been a bit of a lull in terms of news about the game, with an understandable focus on WoW Classic. But today, the people at Wowhead just found something that definitely points to some big news coming in patch 8.2.5 — namely, the end of the War Campaign.

The new build shows signs that the War Campaign will be concluded in Patch 8.2.5.
SPLASH_BATTLEFORAZEROTH_8_2_5_RIGHT_DESC
Lead the charge in the thrilling conclusion to the War Campaign.

With that, what will happen in 8.3?https://t.co/MqPEBundIn pic.twitter.com/I2QpbGtDQv

— Wowhead💙 (@Wowhead) September 12, 2019

This is fascinating. We should be quick to point out that knowing about this splash page doesn’t mean we know what it will actually entail — the end of the War Campaign just means exactly that. The various quest chains we’ve been getting that focus on that aspect of the game’s current story will be concluded. It doesn’t mean that Sylvanas will hit Stormwind with a plague bomb and win the war, or that she’ll be destroyed and 8.3 will be about N’Zoth — it just means that the War Campaign itself will be concluded.

For all we know, it could mean an end to hostilities, absolutely. It could also mean they ramp up into a full-scale war that takes up the entirety of patch 8.3 to resolve. We could see an invasion of forces loyal to Sylvanas into Mulgore, we could see Anduin and Saurfang making a pact to go after Sylvanas. For all we know, N’Zoth erupts out of the Cleft of Shadow in Orgrimmar and the majority of 8.3 is about fighting off the forces of the Old Gods in Ny’alotha.

Knowing that the War Campaign is ending definitely sets up some speculation, though. How does it end? Does it end in a resolution to the war, or does it in fact kick off total war across Azeroth that requires patch 8.3 — or beyond — to settle? How does the War Campaign incorporate everything we’ve been doing on both sides of the conflict? How does this story come to a close, and what comes next? But considering we’ve been told for a while that 8.2.5 wasn’t a major patch, seeing the War Campaign end here definitely makes you wonder what will happen when 8.3 rolls around, since the War Campaign has been a major part of the story throughout Battle for Azeroth.