The Venture Company has always played the villain, but could Blizzard be setting up these Goblins for something more?

The various Goblin cartels have been a feature of World of Warcraft since its release, and while some of them have been allies more often than enemies, there’s one group of Goblins that’s reliably a thorn in our side: the Venture Company. Whether the group has been despoiling the hills of Mulgore or spilling oil along the coast of Kul Tiras, if there’s a need for an NPC corporate entity to be quest fodder the Venture Company has consistently answered the call. In recent expansions, however, the Venture Company hasn’t always been a one-dimensional villain… which begs the question as to whether its role is evolving, and if so what it entails for the future of Goblinkind on Azeroth.

Let’s take a look at the Venture Company’s history, its presence in The War Within, and consider where this group of Goblins may be going next.

A brief history of the Venture Company in Azeroth

The Venture Company was part of the vanilla WoW experience, especially for low level Horde who could encounter them in Mulgore, the Barrens, and Stonetalon Mountains. Alliance players weren’t spared as the Venture Company was had a large presence in Stranglethorn Vale at slightly higher levels. While most members of the Venture Company are Goblins, it’s a multi-racial team with Humans, Dwarves, and even Ogres. (The only qualification for working with the Venture Company seems to be a willingness to work for the Venture Company.)

The group’s reckless exploitation of Azeroth naturally made it a target for quests, and its impact has been felt well beyond those quest zones. The Venture Company worked with both the Zanzil and Defias Brotherhood, functioning as intermediaries between those Horde and Alliance enemies. That willingness to work with everyone else’s enemies became a key feature in expansions, with the Venture Company finding employment from such diverse leaders as Kael’thas Sunstrider and Garrosh Hellscream’s Iron Horde (although there is some ambiguity as to whether Siegecrafter Blackfuse and the Blackfuse Company were independent or a subgroup of the Venture Company). The group also maintained independent operations in Grizzly Hills and Sholozar Basin in Northrend, and while the Cataclysm reduced its presence in Mulgore and the Stonetalon Mountains, the company was still hard at work making money and serving as questing fodder.

The eruption of Azerite across Azeroth after the events of Legion brought the Venture Company into conflict with both factions as it rushed to exploit the resource. Venture Company lackeys were a frequent opponent on Island Expeditions during Battle for Azeroth, and could be found in both Stormsong Valley and Vol’dun scouring the land for resources. On the island of Kezan the company leader Razdunk managed to anger both Alliance and Horde — and with a history like this, it’s not hard to see how — resulting in players storming the dungeon known as The MOTHERLODE!! to put an end to his intransigence. But Razdunk’s defeat didn’t stymie the Venture Company for long as it immediately headed to Mechagon after its discovery, and was once again a target for players to defeat.

In short, the Venture Company is everywhere.

A new, friendlier Venture Company emerges (maybe)

Like most of the third-party NPC factions on Azeroth, the Venture Company didn’t participate in the events of Shadowlands, but interestingly enough the group didn’t have a presence in Dragonflight, either. The only Venture Company NPC players encounter in the Dragon Isles is Grizzle Fizzlecrank, who reveals that while she was sent there to judge company prospects she doesn’t appear to want the company to exploit the Dragon Isles. Instead she has a breadcrumb quest to find a (non-company) friend, and we didn’t hear anything more from the company during the expansion.

But the Venture Company is back in The War Within… just not necessarily in the way we expected it. As players level through the Ringing Deeps, they encounter their standard “marauding Goblin” quest chain in the Deepforge Golemworks — but it’s not the Venture Company. Instead, it’s a new group called the Darkfuse, and if these Goblins are associated with the Venture Company or any other Goblin cartel, no one’s talking about it. There’s another group of friendly — or at least non-hostile — Goblins at Opportunity Point who are also seemingly unaffiliated with any cartel.

It’s not until we reach the Niffen city of Mmarl in Azj-Kahet that we encounter the Venture Company itself, and while these Goblins aren’t exactly friendly, they aren’t actively hostile either. Horde Goblin leader Gazlowe is also there, and asks our help in communicating with the company which has set up a mining operation as well as a relaxation experience for its overworked — and exclusively Goblin — miners, including an irradiated swimming hole and a robot combat arena.

This quick quest chain is different from most of our interactions with the Venture Company. Instead of fighting, we help the Venture Company secure its mining operation alongside Gazlowe and the Niffen. With our quests complete, these three groups are discussing exchanging technology in a (mostly) friendly fashion, and as  they walk away the company chief Jenni Boombuckle drops a casual mention of Undermine, the Goblin city that has long been in Warcraft lore but never visited (and for some time was speculated to be destroyed along with Kezan in the Cataclysm). We may not be friends with the Venture Company, but we’re not not friends, either.

This evolution of the Venture Company could be laying the groundwork for greater cooperation with the company in the future. One possibility is that the Venture Company may be a new Renown faction if we visit Undermine in a patch, and I even considered (for a moment) that Blizzard might be changing their status as a way to set up Alliance-playable Goblins. [Ed’s note: I removed a lot of exclamation points there.]

There’s only one issue with any speculation regarding the growing rapprochement with the Venture Company: Cinderbrew Meadery.

Is the Venture Company a friend, an enemy, or a frenemy?

Though the Goblin groups in Khaz Algar are mostly friendly, there are lingering troubles with the Venture Company. After the campaign quests through the Isle of Dorn, the Venture Company is granted control of the Cinderbrew Meadery… and just like in expansions past the company has made a mess of it by exploiting bees and workers, creating elemental monstrosities, and just being a general nuisance. The Cinderbrew Meadery dungeon is your typical pre-Dragonflight Venture Company experience: Goblin-dominated but assisted by members of other races, and the only way to solve the problem is to murder everyone involved.

What’s happening here? Is the Venture Company a possible frenemy or even ally, or is it still your standard villain organization that needs stomping out whenever it appears? There’s a gigantic disconnect in The War Within when it comes to the Venture Company, and the wild speculation above has to be put aside until we encounter the group in the future. It’s certainly possible that the Cinderbrew Meadery experience is a one-off — or perhaps even the last gasp of the company’s old guard — but until we know for sure speculation should be tempered somewhat.

Regardless of what the future holds, the Venture Company is likely going nowhere and will continue to make appearances as the prospect of a journey to Undermine looms. Whether this particular group of goblins is an enemy or ally remains to be seen but as long as Azeroth has resources that aren’t being exploited for maximum profit you can be certain the Venture Company will be there.