In its 15 years on the market, World of Warcraft has evolved significantly but has also managed to stay at the top. It’s no surprise that some games are trying to capture some of that shine. MeinMMO presents here five quirky WoW clones.
Why is WoW copied? Since 2004, players have been able to immerse themselves in the world of warfare and explore Azeroth. WoW has always relied on a subscription model and has still managed to establish itself as the arguably most popular MMORPG in the world.
The fans are so enamored with World of Warcraft that Classic servers are even coming in August 2019, turning back the clock and returning WoW to its roots – back when everything took longer.
So it’s not surprising that other games are trying to copy WoW and thus grab some of that shine for themselves. Some of these games lost their case against games giant Blizzard. Others are holding their own:
1. Crusaders of Light
What is Crusaders of Light? Crusaders of Light was developed by the Chinese developer NetEase and was originally released in Germany in 2017 for Android and iOS as a sort of “WoW for mobile”.
In terms of gameplay and structure, Crusaders of Light is a classic MMORPG. It offers familiar features of the genre as well as some unusual aspects, such as:
- a comprehensive leveling and quest system
- dungeons and raids
- PvP in arenas between 1 and 5 players as well as in battlegrounds
- battle royale
Currently, Crusaders of Light is playable on PC via Steam and even allows crossplay between smartphone and PC.
How Crusaders of Light copies WoW: Crusaders of Light is more of a WoW clone in terms of visuals than gameplay. The designs of the areas strongly resemble those of Blizzard’s MMORPG giant:
Even the design of some enemies looks as if the developers didn’t make much effort to hide where the “inspiration” for the boss comes from. Even the dances shown in the intro are clearly borrowed from WoW (here: male Draenei and female humans).
2. Allods Online
What is Allods Online? The MMORPG from publisher my.com from Russia has been around since 2010 and is still actively played. Allods Online is available for PC and since 2016 also on Steam.
Allods Online is a classic MMORPG with classes, loot, quests, and dungeons. However, there is a peculiarity. After significant criticism of the payment model, Allods Online established subscription servers. This allows players to choose whether they want to pay monthly or play for free with a “pay-to-win” shop.
Despite its considerable age for a free-to-play MMORPG, Allods Online is still being developed. In February 2019, a massive update almost turned Allods Online into a new MMORPG.
How Allods Online copies WoW: Allods Online is in its form both visually and in gameplay a true clone of WoW. The interface looks almost identical, the characters are extremely similar, and even the enemies have hardly been changed.
Even from the game itself, one might think they landed in Azeroth. The gameplay strongly resembles WoW shortly after its release:
The video also shows some abilities that, in terms of effect, appearance, and even icon, look like spells available to shadow priests from WoW.
3. World of Kings
What is World of Kings? World of Kings is another MMORPG for mobile devices from the Chinese developer ZLOONG. It was released in May 2019 as a free app for Android and iOS.
The features are oriented towards the classic theme park MMORPG and are linked with mobile elements:
- automated gameplay
- quest and leveling system with improvements in late-game
- PvP on battlegrounds with up to 20 players per side
One special feature of World of Kings, however, is the classes. The four races can choose from a total of nine classes, all of which can advance into one of three further classes. This results in a total of 27 classes available.
How World of Kings copies WoW: Even the name World of Kings is quite similar to that of the market leader World of Warcraft. Moreover, the first steps into the world look as if one could be in Azeroth:
Houses, cities, streets, and enemies look almost exactly like the templates from WoW. Even some details like icons, flags, and banners are apparently not just inspired but directly copied. Even wordplay has been taken over in some instances: where WoW has Harrison Jones, in World of Kings there is Indiana Ford.
4. 4 Story
What is 4 Story? The MMORPG 4 Story created by the Korean developer Zemi Int. was released in 2008 for PC under publisher Gameforge. Unlike most MMORPGs mentioned here, it focuses more on PvP than on PvE and exploration.
In 4 Story there are three different factions that differ only by name. Races and classes are otherwise identical. However, the three factions are in a constant war, and the “Realm vs Realm” aspect is a core feature of the game.
There’s also the so-called “Territory War,” which breaks out regularly. If a faction can claim a territory, the corresponding players will find more adventures and treasures to discover there.
How 4 Story copies WoW: Similar to Allods Online, 4 Story is in many respects an almost exact copy of World of Warcraft. Some armor parts are more colorful, and the races are different. But the interface, gameplay, and visuals strongly resemble WoW.
The class design is also heavily inspired by World of Warcraft. In the gameplay video embedded below, both the icons of the spells and their effects look like abilities available to mages in WoW:
Even though some of the textures and details are different, some enemies and even items bear similarities to comparable models that exist in WoW.
5. Era of Legends
What is Era of Legends? Era of Legends by 101XP Limited was released in March 2019 as a free mobile MMORPG for Android and has been available for iOS since July. The game has already caused a stir on MeinMMO as “mobile WoW”.
Era of Legends offers a mix of PvE and PvP features
- An open world to explore
- Quests, dungeons, raids, and loot
- PvP arenas
- Guilds
For players who want to delve deeper into the game, there is a plethora of prestige items to collect, such as pets, mounts, and skins.
How Era of Legends copies WoW: Era of Legends has strong visual similarities to World of Warcraft. The characters resemble night elves, gnomes, and the new druid forms of the Kul Tirans from WoW.
Other textures and models have also been adopted or at least strongly influenced by the WoW prototype:
Griffins in Era of Legends 
An airship in Era of Legends 
Griffins in WoW 
An airship in WoW
Even sound effects sound similar, and it builds on similar gameplay principles that have kept many players engaged for long periods: collecting cosmetic items. Era of Legends comes close to the mobile WoW that fans want.
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