"We've already stated it'll be a brand new franchise, which means the lore, art, and game play are being developed entirely from scratch," said Blizzard community manager Zarhym on the World of Warcraft forums, in a post noticed by Worldofwar.net.

Zerhym referred to the new MMO as a "shell of a game thus far." Blizzard has previously said that the title is being developed using the World of Warcraft engine for testing purposes.

"It's an overwhelming process, but a process through which we excel," added Zerhym. "Our track record supports this."