by SymphonieBlizzCon 2023 was filled with some pretty big announcements. A new trilogy of expansions was on the horizon and Blizzard intended to speed up the release schedule for new content and expansions. The emphasis on speed might not be the best move going forward, but we’ll have to wait and see.
World of Warcraft: The War Within, the first of the Worldsoul Saga trilogy expansions, was released at the end of August. It brought players to the newest realm of Azeroth, Khaz Algar, raised the level cap and introduced new Hero Talents. It’s still too early to say how the plot and gameplay will stack up against the innovation of Dragonflight, but we have high hopes.
Whenever a new expansion is released, it makes us take a second to pause and reflect on the early days of WoW and online gaming. Even more so this year as it marks two decades since the WoW servers first went live. This article will walk though how Blizzard and gaming have evolved since WoW’s launch 20 years ago.
The early days of Blizzard
Blizzard was founded in 1991 and released their first game in 1994. Their first Warcraft game came out that same year, quickly followed by sequels in 1995 and 1996. These games were strategy games in the classic format of build a settlement, defend it and battle enemies. There is an overarching plot line, but it is much simpler than the later games, though it does establish the world of Azeroth.
These games were followed by Blizzard’s other two most important franchises: Diablo (1997) and StarCraft (1998). All these games were hugely popular and broke boundaries in terms of gameplay and storytelling.
In 1999, Blizzard took their next big step towards creating the most popular MMORPG. They released Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition, a version of the game that incorporated an online multiplayer option. It included elements and tools they had created for StarCraft.
World of Warcraft was launched in 2004 and rapidly became the most popular MMORPG ever. Not only was the gameplay varied and creative, Blizzard had also created an entirely immersive world. Players could choose to create an avatar on the side of the Alliance or the Horde, build up their skills and levels, and join guilds to participate in raids and trade gear and goods.
The game was an immediate success. Critics and players alike were obsessed with the game immediately after it was released and that fascination and love carried on for years.
Ups and downs
Blizzard has continued to release expansions for WoW regularly since it was launched. These include The Burning Crusade (2007), Wrath of the Lich King (2008), Cataclysm (2010), Mists of Pandaria (2012), Earlords of Draenor (2014), Legion (2016), Battle for Azeroth (2018), Shadowlands (2020), Dragonflight (2022) and the recently released The War Within (2024).
Each of these expansions has introduced new lands, new races and new gameplay mechanics. The open world gameplay allows players to explore and reignites the excitement for the game before diving deep into the elaborate and complex storylines of each expansion.
Unfortunately, Blizzard hasn’t only seen good times. Some people trace the slow decline of Blizzard to their merger with Activision in 2008. The devotion to their product and desire to keep their players happy was harder to maintain as part of a major game studio.
Since 2010, the company has been involved in numerous lawsuits and controversies. Some of these involved targeting smaller companies they felt were infringing on their rights. There have also been multiple issues with privacy and security, leading to serious concerns among players.
WoW Classic revitalization
The consistent expansions and the frequent controversies caused many long-term fans to lose interest in the game. Potential players were put off from trying the game by how truly massive and complicated the world had become. Blizzard needed to do something new.
Turns out, the best new thing that Blizzard could do was to look to the past. In 2019, they released World of Warcraft Classic. Classic was a return to the basics, a version of the game without the content of the expansions. Classic reinvigorated the series and brought new players into the community.
Online gaming today
The online gaming world was still fairly young when Blizzard introduced us to the wild, wide world of World of Warcraft. Most games were played on consoles or PCs without any connection to other players and online options were limited. Today, online gaming is the dominant form of gaming, and most games include at least some online option or are stored on the Cloud.
One of the biggest changes to the gaming landscape is the rise of iGaming. Online casinos were basic poker rooms two decades ago, but a quick look through the sites listed on www.newcasinos.com/ shows just how far online casinos have come. They now offer games with graphics that rival any other mobile games and even some traditional computer games.
The ability to move between desktop and mobile on most online casinos is also available with a lot of other popular browser and online games. With so many people dedicated to mobile gaming, it’s easy to see why developers are making mobile games a priority. This does have the unfortunate consequence of making more games simpler to play and less visually impressive.
Final thoughts
In the first years after its release, World of Warcraft completely dominated the MMORPG scene. While it has maintained a consistent level of popularity, other games have emerged. As the online gaming world has expanded and diversified, WoW has had to share the market with other titles. There have been good times and bad times for the franchise, but no matter what changes, we believe there will always be a player base for World of Warcraft.
