The artists of World of Warcraft tested leg angles, among other features, before selecting crabs as the new arachnophobia-themed mode.

When World of Warcraft developers worked on the new spider themed Nerubian race in their new The War Within extension, they brought in an expert on arachnophobia to tell them why spiders are scary to some people.

The expansion's new "arachnophobia" mode turns spiders into crabs with a single click of the mouse. Early access is available to players who pre-ordered the Epic Edition of the game. They can see the new mode and dive into it for the first time.

Blizzard expert assures developers that crabs are better than they appear at first glance. They have many legs and make clicking noises. Tina Wang, WoW's associate art director, told PC Gamer that players agreed.

She said, "We received a great deal of information which informed some of the testing we did. For example, the angle of the legs or the number of legs. Or the presence of teeth. When it comes to testing the phobia, this is really important. Although crabs may look like spiders to the casual observer it makes a big difference when it comes phobias. This message was also reinforced by the user testing of our game: People are pro-crabs."

The team brought in many experts for the new expansion. Other experts helped to create the game's underground areas, including a zone lit by a giant colour-changing crystal.

Wang said, "We have a really cool group called Blizz U." "We invite researchers or experts to chat with us about their areas of expertise. For example, we initially had a video about exploring caves for War Within. Recently, we had one on crystals. "When it comes to different cultures we also consult experts from various spaces to hear their views."

She said that research can be done in depth for characters like Overwatch, who represent actual cultures, and need to be accurate.

She said that "on World of Warcraft we often take bits of inspiration from other places." "We don't try to represent any culture directly, but when we draw inspiration from other cultures, we want to be sure we are doing so in a way that is informed."

The team is then briefed on topics like swords and armor throughout the ages. The result is that the art of the game has changed, sometimes to make it more realistic and in other cases to not scare people who are afraid of spiders.

"We took a virtual forge-tour, because the Earthen [race] has a lot of forges." Wang said that it's only the artists who get to see this, and how it influences their work.

The War Within is WoW’s 10th expansion and 2024 marks its 20th anniversary online.