World of Warcraft
News, coverage and analysis tracking World of Warcraft across the outlets.
Latest coverage
Morning Multiplex
This article provides a brief update on several games, including a gameplay trailer for Age of Legacy, a developer update for God Save Birmingham, and a gameplay trailer for Jump Broke. Additionally, a demo for NEKO STATION is now available, and there is a mention of World of Warcraft: Curse of Ula’tek.
Casually Classic: What were vanilla World of Warcraft’s strengths?
This article analyzes the core strengths of the original World of Warcraft, often referred to as 'vanilla WoW'. It highlights the game's accessibility compared to its contemporaries, the engaging nature of its side quests that encouraged exploration, the meaningful progression through distinct milestones, and the meticulously crafted, personality-filled zones that motivated players to continue leveling.
World of Warcraft starts testing Update 12.1: Curse of the Ula’tek
World of Warcraft is testing Update 12.1, titled Curse of the Ula'tek, which is the first major chapter for the Midnight expansion. This update introduces the Coiled Isle zone, the Altar of Fangs dungeon, the Venomous Abyss raid, Season 2, Discord integration, and new delves. It also adds Lairs, instanced world boss encounters with scaling difficulty.
Slay the Spire 2 patch fixes RNG bug after a fan's '8 hour descent into madness' proves it exists—alongside heaps of other updates and a new Act 3 boss
Slay the Spire 2 has received a major balance patch that addresses an RNG bug related to Neow's Bones, which a player's extensive investigation proved was unfairly favoring the Debt curse in certain conditions. The update also includes numerous balance adjustments for cards and introduces a new Act 3 boss, the Aeonglass, replacing the Doormaker.
Massively Overthinking: Is the era of the themepark MMORPG over?
Industry veterans discuss the sustainability of themepark MMORPGs, with Raph Koster suggesting rising development costs are making the model unsustainable. While some argue that modern themeparks incorporate sandbox elements to survive, others believe the dichotomy is false and that innovation from both styles is key. The discussion highlights the challenges of content creation speed versus player consumption and the evolving player base's preferences.
World of Warcraft players will never have to leave the MMO once Blizzard adds Discord chat for guilds in the next update
Blizzard Entertainment is integrating Discord chat directly into World of Warcraft guilds in an upcoming update, allowing players to communicate between the game and Discord. This feature requires linking Battle.net and Discord accounts and will offer options for combined or separate chat channels. The integration aims to simplify communication for guilds, especially those with members across different time zones.
'Many people want to use VPNs for privacy—that is important—but we know that some children use them to get around restrictions': UK government considering VPN ban
The UK government is considering new restrictions on Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), potentially banning their use for individuals under 16 to prevent them from bypassing age verification checks on social media. While acknowledging the privacy benefits of VPNs for adults, the government is researching their use by children to circumvent online restrictions. Further statements on potential VPN regulations are expected in July.
Perfect Ten: The 10 most rage-inducing (but fixable) MMORPG industry problems
This opinion piece outlines ten common and fixable problems within the MMORPG industry, ranging from the over-sexualization of characters and misleading 'pay-to-win' discussions to poor website and communication practices. It also criticizes trend-chasing studio creation, premature announcements, historical inaccuracies in marketing, and the continued lack of essential features like group finders.
Microsoft's games are bigger than Xbox. So just scrap Xbox.
This article argues that Microsoft should discontinue the Xbox as a hardware platform due to its financial unsustainability and focus instead on its game development studios. The author suggests spinning off the gaming division into an independent entity to maximize revenue from its vast portfolio of games like Call of Duty and Minecraft, decoupling them from expensive console hardware.
As Blizzard continues its private server takedown spree, dataminers may have uncovered what's next for World of Warcraft: Classic
Dataminers have uncovered files suggesting "World of Warcraft Camelot," likely the "Classic Plus" expansion for World of Warcraft Classic. This follows Blizzard's recent takedowns of private servers and a tease for a major Classic WoW announcement at BlizzCon.
World of Warcraft Camelot discovery gives the MMO's community its most compelling evidence yet that Blizzard might actually turn a myth into a long-hoped-for reality
A recent datamine has uncovered 'World of Warcraft Camelot,' leading to renewed community speculation about a potential 'WoW Classic+' expansion. This discovery, linked to an older patch, combined with previous teases from Blizzard developers like Holly Longdale and mentions of the long-term future of WoW Classic, fuels hopes for a new, branching version of the MMORPG.
Game Crossovers and Collaborations
Blizzard Gear Store is offering a new World of Warcraft Lich King Keycap Set. This merchandise item allows fans to customize their keyboards with iconic imagery from the popular MMORPG.
'World of Warcraft Camelot' is a mysterious new branch of the MMO that Blizzard fans are convinced is the first real evidence of a remixed WoW Classic
A new version of World of Warcraft, codenamed 'World of Warcraft Camelot,' has been discovered on Blizzard's servers, leading players to speculate it's an enhanced 'WoW Classic Plus' version. This discovery coincides with Blizzard inviting streamers to their offices under NDA and follows a pattern of accidental leaks through internal server updates.
Massively OP Podcast Episode 569: Luke, it is your Destiny 2
The Massively OP Podcast episode 569 covers Guild Wars 3 news, Blizzard's action against a World of Warcraft emulator, EVE Online's Cradle of War expansion, and the conclusion of Destiny 2's story. Hosts Bree and Justin also discuss neural interfacing with MMOs and share listener emails.
Thatgamecompany's 20-year journey from anti-Columbine school project to a celebration of Van Gogh
Thatgamecompany, co-founded by Jenova Chen, celebrates 20 years of creating emotionally resonant games like Flow, Flower, Journey, and Sky: Children of the Light. The studio's journey began as an anti-violence project and evolved into a platform for artistic expression, overcoming financial struggles and shifting industry trends. Their latest venture, 'Dear Van Gogh,' is an immersive experience within Sky: Children of the Light, exploring the life of Vincent Van Gogh.
Treyarch studio head steps down after 22 years
Mark Gordon, studio head at Treyarch, has retired after 22 years with the Call of Duty maker. During his tenure, Gordon contributed to titles like Call of Duty 3 and the entire Black Ops series. Kevin Hendrickson and Yale Miller will take over as co-studio heads. The article also touches on past studio issues, significant investment in the Call of Duty franchise, and recent performance concerns.
WoW dataminer reveals new store purchases for an upcoming WoW launch, which could be Classic+
A World of Warcraft dataminer named Stiven has revealed potential new store purchases and tiered access licenses for an upcoming project codenamed "WoW Camelot." This discovery, linked to patch 1.60, suggests a possible Classic+ release or a new expansion, coinciding with Blizzard's ongoing legal actions against private Classic server providers.
World of Warcraft’s Midnight Revelations content update goes live today – here’s the trailer
The latest content update for World of Warcraft, titled Midnight Revelations, is now live. This update introduces new mini-zones, Naigtal and Val, where players can uncover secrets of the Amani trolls. It also features the single-boss Sporefall raid, seasonal events, and turbulent timeways.
The Daily Grind: What would you recommend as a gamer’s *second* MMORPG?
This article discusses recommendations for a gamer's second MMORPG, distinguishing it from introductory gateway MMOs. It suggests that while games like World of Warcraft are good first choices, more complex options like EVE Online or Wurm Online might be too difficult for a second experience, proposing an intermediate difficulty range is needed.
Blizzard Sues WoW Private Server It Alleges Raked In Millions
Blizzard Entertainment has filed a lawsuit against the creators of the World of Warcraft private server 'Ascension WoW,' alleging copyright infringement, racketeering, and illegal earnings of millions of dollars. The lawsuit cites similar offenses to a previous case against 'Turtle WoW' and claims the defendants have taken steps to conceal their identities, potentially using the Russia-based Aeza Group for hosting. Blizzard is seeking the shutdown of the server, monetary relief, and an accounting of all collected funds.
