Is the return of Illidan to World of Warcraft enough to bring you back?

Blizzard is making another expansion for World of Warcraft. Revealed at Gamescom today, World of Warcraft: Legion will bring Illidan Stormrage back to the game. His reappearance will allow players to become Demon Hunters, a new playable class featured in the expansion. That’s good because Blizzard says the expansion will center around the “largest demonic invasion of Azeroth ever.” Think of it as The Burning Crusade 2: Stormrage Boogaloo. In addition to a new heroic class, Legion will add a new continent called The Broken Isles, an increased level cap to 110, customizable Artifact Weapons, and a revamped honor system for player-versus-player progression. Order Halls, based on the existing follower system, will expand that concept with class-specific headquarters. Blizzard has not released any information on a release date.

According to the most recent financial disclosure from Activision Blizzard, the player population of World of Warcraft is down to 5.6 million subscribers. Last quarter’s population was 7.1 million, down from the Warlords of Draenor’s November launch number of roughly 10 million. At 5.6 million, this is the lowest the subscriber number has dipped since 2005. While subscriber numbers generally experience a bump with the launch of new content, it remains to be seen what long-term effect Legion will have on this trend.