WoW lead says dungeons drifted toward short Mythic+ timers instead of long 20‑boss mazes, and Labyrinths could restore the old feel

Associate game director Paul Kubit and lead encounter designer Dylan Barker spoke with PC Gamer about Labyrinths, a planned feature for World of Warcraft: Midnight that is being developed after launch as part of later patches. Kubit described Labyrinths as a broader, more ambitious take on The War Within’s Delves system and said the team wants these areas to capture a different emotional tone from the current dungeon formula.

Kubit contrasted Labyrinths with the direction dungeons have taken in recent years. He pointed out that modern Mythic+ dungeons are timed, high‑stress runs designed to be completed in minutes rather than hours, and said that design choice has influenced how dungeons are built.

Kubit put it plainly: “If you remember, back in Classic, we had dungeons like Maraudon, Blackrock Spire and Depths, where we had like 20 bosses in a dungeon. And that’s not something that happens anymore—dungeons have three or four bosses … And maybe we lost something along the way.”

On the emotional goal for Labyrinths, Kubit offered another direct line: “That RPG fantasy feeling of getting lost in a big dungeon doesn’t exist in the dungeon space anymore—but it could in our Delve space, if you look at something like Labyrinths. So that’s something that Labyrinths are trying to tap into from an emotional point of view.”

Labyrinths are presented as a counterpoint to the Mythic+ style of design. The team frames Mythic+ as short, intense gauntlets where timing and route optimization are central. Labyrinths, by contrast, are intended to invite longer exploration and more numerous encounters, recalling the sprawling multi‑boss layouts Kubit named from Classic.

PC Gamer’s reporting makes clear Labyrinths are a large work in progress and will not ship with Midnight at launch; they are planned for a few patches after release. The feature is described as an evolution of existing Delve content from The War Within rather than a launch‑day system. The conversation sits alongside other ongoing technical and balance discussions around Midnight.

Some players testing the expansion have reported issues with the stat squish that affect older items; that topic has been covered in more detail in separate coverage.

What Kubit and Barker emphasized

• Labyrinths are tied to the Delves system from The War Within and are intended to be larger and more exploration focused.
• Kubit cited Classic-era dungeons—Maraudon, Blackrock Spire, and Depths—as examples of multi‑boss, sprawling designs that rarely appear in current dungeons.
• Mythic+ dungeons are described as timed challenges meant to be finished quickly, which has shaped modern dungeon design toward shorter boss counts and tighter layouts.
• Labyrinths will not be part of Midnight’s initial launch and are planned for later patches while still under active development.

If you want to debate which Classic dungeon best captured that lost feeling, leave a comment and follow for updates on Labyrinths and Midnight on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram.