World of Warcraft Executive Producer Holly Longdale Heading to PAX Aus 2026

PAX Aus has landed a massive guest for 2026, announcing Blizzard Entertainment’s Holly Longdale as this year’s Storytime speaker.

If you’ve spent any amount of time in MMORPGs over the last two decades, chances are you’ve played something shaped by Longdale’s work.

From EverQuest through to Warcraft, Diablo and Overwatch, Longdale has been part of some of gaming’s biggest and most important franchises, helping build the kinds of online worlds players stick with for years.

Now, she’s bringing those stories to Melbourne.

Currently the Executive Producer of World of Warcraft at Blizzard Entertainment, Longdale oversees both World of Warcraft Classic and Modern, including the recently released World of Warcraft: Midnight expansion. It’s a role sitting at the centre of one of the biggest MMORPG franchises ever created, and one that continues to evolve nearly 22 years after launch.

But her history with MMOs goes back even further.

Longdale originally started with Sony Online Entertainment working on EverQuest, eventually rising to Assistant Lead Designer before later returning to oversee the franchise as Executive Producer. A lot of what players now expect from persistent online worlds and live-service gaming has roots in that era of MMORPGs, and Longdale was right there helping shape it.

Outside of Blizzard and Sony Online Entertainment, she also spent time with Disney Interactive Studios and the Walt Disney Internet Group, working across projects connected to franchises like TRON, Pirates of the Caribbean, Hannah Montana, Cars and Disney Fairies.

Speaking about the announcement, Longdale said she was looking forward to talking about the communities that grow around games.

“I’m honoured to be joining PAX Aus to celebrate the power of games and the communities that grow around them,” Longdale said.

“From World of Warcraft to gaming more broadly, it’s those communities that shape what we build.”

For PAX Aus, it feels like another strong Storytime choice. The sessions have always worked best when they focus less on corporate game development talk and more on the stories behind the people making these games, and Longdale has more than enough experience to pull from.

Whether you’re a longtime World of Warcraft player, someone who grew up with EverQuest, or just interested in how massive online games actually get made and sustained for years, this feels like a session worth putting on the schedule early.

PAX Aus 2026 takes place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from October 9–11.