An adventure 18 years in the making: Long-lost Warcraft title leaks online
 

Nearly 20 years ago, Blizzard had a plan for a new Warcraft title that would depart from the series’ RTS roots. Where Warcraft and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness had focused on the strategic aspects of an all-out war between the Alliance and the invading Orcish Horde, Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans would focus on one specific character, an orc named Thrall. Thrall was found as a babe and raised by humans hoping to create a warrior who would remain obedient to his human masters.
The game was nearly complete when Blizzard shelved the concept and opted not to release it. Their reasoning was simple: The adventure genre, which had sustained and defined PC gaming from the launch of Mystery House in 1980 all the way through titles like Grim Fandango in 1998, was passing. Sales of point-and-click adventures were down, and Blizzard felt the core gameplay of Lord of the Clans was lacking. The game has never been released until now, courtesy of Reidor of the ScrollsofLore forum.