It's Not Quite Player Housing, But WoW Players Can Earn An Apartment Soon

World of Warcraft will introduce a way for players to earn their very own in-game apartment as part of the game's upcoming Undermine(d) update, offering a taste of what might be in store when WoW's full-on player housing arrives as part of its Midnight expansion. Minor spoilers ahead.

As detailed by Wowhead via WoW's public test realm, earning the apartment requires completing a side quest chain that sees players overthrowing a corrupt landlord who has partnered with a local biker gang to terrorize tenants and keep them desperate. After battling through bikers and stealing the deed to the apartment complex for one of the disgruntled tenants, players are then granted their own penthouse apartment to use as a reward, no rent required.

As for the apartment itself, it's a goblin-esque themed room with a balcony players can use to quickly return to the city of Undermine. There aren't any customizations to be had, but one feature it does include that seems likely to return when Blizzard introduces player housing proper is a way for players to set their Hearthstone to their new home.

It's not the first time WoW players have received more personal living space. During the Warlords of Draenor expansion players had an entire Garrison to call their own, while Class Order Halls offered class-specific spaces for players of the same class to hang out in. This is, however, the first instance of players being able to acquire an apartment to call home.

There are a couple potential clues to how WoW might implement player housing to be gleaned here. For starters, the apartment simply exists in the game world, and players when visiting are treated to their own private "instance" of it. That seems to imply player housing won't be an entirely separate zone or a specific neighborhood where players can build custom houses, but rather the homes up for grabs will be added to existing locations in the world.

Given how players are granted this apartment as a quest, it also seems likely that players will be given some form of player housing for free come Midnight, though there is certainly still room to have players be able to purchase other, more desirable properties. Players will ultimately have to wait for more information directly from Blizzard about what player housing will look like.

WoW game director Ion Hazzikostas in an interview with GameSpot last year said Blizzard was announcing player housing far in advance of Midnight's release in order to "begin a conversation" and "double-check" that Blizzard's plans for player housing matched the expectations of players. Announcing the feature so far ahead of the expansion itself also gives the team time to pivot if changes need to be made, he said. More information about player housing and Midnight it slated to come this summer, according to WoW's 2025 roadmap.

As for when players can unlock their apartment, the goblin-filled Undermine(d) update doesn't have a release date just yet, but is expected to release in the next month or two.