“… Aspirants are able to choose a physical form that represents their true self,” the developer said. “Pelagos, who presented as a woman in his mortal life, chose to be a man in the Shadowlands.” 

As titles like GTA V show, video games still have a long way to go when it comes to their treatment of transgender characters and people. But at the very least, Blizzard is taking a step in the right direction, particularly in a genre that, at its core, is about giving players a safe space to explore alternate identities. 

From a gameplay standpoint, players will explore five new zones, and the game is getting a new leveling experience. The progress from levels 1 – 10 will be completely revamped, before players can explore any of the previous expansions while they progress from 10 to 50. Once a character reaches level 50, then they can enter the Shadowlands and potentially reach level 60, which compresses the old system where players were leveling up to 130.

For heavy players who’ve already experienced the process, or just those who are trying to reach high levels to play the new content, it should make for a smoother and more enjoyable experience with less grinding plus more options on what to play. At level 60, players can join a Covenant, which ties into the expansion’s afterlife theme and grants characters with new powers from the group they join.

Character customization has also been revamped, with different tattoos, hairstyles and options that go far beyond simply adjusting one’s skin tone, and now Death Knights will be available for any of the game’s races. As usual, there are 8 new dungeons, and its first raid is set up for 10 players. Still, one of the biggest new features is Torghast, Tower of the Damned, a new randomized dungeon experience that’s apparently inspired by the roguelike genre.

For even more information, Blizzard has a “Deep Dive panel” scheduled for Saturday, at 2:15 PM ET / 11:15 AM PT.