Huge World of Warcraft Crossover Could Mean A Potential Universes Beyond Set In The Near Future

Last updated on July 27, 2026

source: blizzard.gamespress.com

Over the weekend, there was a leak of an upcoming crossover between World of Warcraft and Dungeons & Dragons. This leak seems to be the real deal, and so it seems like we will be getting the World of Warcraft universe playable through a Dungeons & Dragons book, much in the same vein as previous crossovers. This is undoubtedly a huge crossover, and it begs the question: Is a similar crossover coming for Magic: The Gathering?

This idea seems like an obvious homerun. Afterall, Wizards of the Coast owns both MTG and D&D, and if they're willing to do a crossover with WoW, why not do it with Magic? Well, as you may have guessed, there is one big thing that stands in the way of a Universes Beyond crossover with World of Warcraft, and that's Hearthstone.

The Hearthstone Problem

Loot Hoarder | Illustration by Jim Nelson

Hearthstone is Activision-Blizzard's digital card game, and it draws on the lore and characters from the World of Warcraft universe. Being a World of Warcraft card game makes it difficult to imagine that Activision-Blizzard would license their IP to Wizards of the Coast just to use it in a competing card game. Dungeons & Dragons doesn't compete with any of their existing products, so it's a no-brainer for them to do a crossover there, but when it comes to Magic, it's perhaps the single biggest competitor to Hearthstone there is.

Despite any reservations that Activision-Blizzard may have, I'm sure Wizards of the Coast would be happy to pursue a Universes Beyond crossover with World of Warcraft given the opportunity. Since they began having these frequent mainline Universes Beyond sets, Magic: The Gathering has seen an explosion in popularity and these sets have had great individual financial success for the company. World of Warcraft is the perfect kind of IP for a crossover: It's high fantasy, which means it will blend in nicely with Magic, and it has decades of material and characters to draw from.

But this is all moot if the existence of Hearthstone prevents Activision-Blizzard from licensing their IP to be used in Magic: The Gathering. However, it might be more possible than you think.

The Marvel Snap Solution

Murdock's Crusade | Illustration by Gal Or

It was not too long ago that we were all worrying about Marvel Super Heroes not coming to Arena. If you remember the whole Spider-Man/Through the Omenpaths debacle, there was a worry the same thing was going to happen for Marvel Super Heroes, as it was an issue of digital licensing rights that caused the problem.. However, Wizards of the Coast remedied this issue and we were able to get digital versions of the same cards we got in paper for Marvel Super Heroes. But why was it so hard to get the digital rights to the Marvel IP in the first place?

The reason was that a digital card game using Marvel's IP already existed: Marvel Snap. For whatever reason, they attained the rights for paper but not digital, as there was likely apprehension for competition with Marvel Snap on digital platforms. However, this was all apparently since negotiated. 

It therefore stands to reason that if World of Warcraft is an IP that Wizards of the Coast has been pursuing for a Universes Beyond crossover with Magic: The Gathering, the existence of Hearthstone will not necessarily prevent it from happening, as if it's a big enough win-win for both parties, then all it will take is a little negotiation. And the upside is huge, as I said before, World of Warcraft is the perfect kind of IP to bring into Magic: The Gathering.

Wrap Up

Astarion, the Decadent | Illustration by Ben Hill

So what should we ultimately expect? Honestly, there are reasons to have doubt that a World of Warcraft crossover will happen. Hearthstone is more popular than Marvel Snap, and it could be a case of Activision-Blizzard not having much incentive to license their IP in fears of direct competition. However, because of how great World of Warcraft would be as a Universes Beyond set, Wizards of the Coast may have enough reason to pursue this avenue and figure something out so that we get this set. Only time will tell, but I'm holding out hope that this will come to pass.