Blizzard surprises the players of World of Warcraft every year with new April Fools’ jokes. An April Fools’ joke from 2009 even made it into the game with Lorenhall.
What is this April Fools’ joke about? In 2009, Blizzard introduced an April Fools’ joke that would later prove to be not so far-fetched after all. The “Pimp My Mount” joke promised that players could customize their mounts at NPCs like Enzo and Haugstern – from spikes to flame stripes, many details of their personal vehicle could be adjusted (via Buffed).
The idea poked fun at the then-popular US TV show “Pimp My Ride” (via Wikipedia). In 2024, with The War Within and the update “Undermine(d)”, the concept of customizing vehicles (which had already been prepared with dragon riding from Dragonflight) was further developed in this direction, as new goblin cars were introduced as new mounts into the game.
Players from WoW can now modify the vehicles to make them faster or more agile, bringing the original joke idea from 2009 to reality. Coincidentally, players have noticed this just in time for April 1st.
When April Fools’ Jokes Become Real Features
How do the players feel about it? On Reddit, players discovered these parallels just in time for April 1, 2025. The community finds it funny, but wishes for the implementation of more April Fools’ jokes as new features in the MMORPG.
Adventurous_Topic202 suggests as an example on Reddit the April Fools’ joke from 2008: “I’m just waiting for the April Fools’ joke around the bard/guitar hero class to become a thing.” Back then, Blizzard introduced the bard as a new hero class inspired by Guitar Hero. Equipped with musical instruments, the bard fought with abilities like “Epic Solo” and “I Am Murloc,” while supporting the group with buffs.
Meanwhile, Matt_Link wonders on Reddit where the second part of the April Fools’ joke from 2009 is: “Incoming: ‘Dance Studio when’ comments.” Back then, Blizzard presented the “Dance Battle System,” where PvP was to become “Dancer vs. Dancer.” Players were supposed to register with NPC dance masters and compete in a dance competition against each other.
According to the April Fools’ joke, Kael’thas Sunstrider would have established a dance temple in which dance maneuvers were to replace the usual abilities. Rewards such as flashy outfits or the mount “The Soul Train” were supposed to await the winners. A joke that brought together dance and combat, yet was never integrated into the real game.
Was that the first April Fools’ joke that made it into the game? No, the Pandaren as a playable race were originally an April Fools’ joke from 2002. Blizzard introduced them back then as the “fifth race” for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (via wowpedia.fandom.com). This joke portrayed the Pandaren as a mystical, warlike nation driven from their homeland by the centaurs.
Although the Pandaren were originally intended just for fun, many of the concepts were later incorporated into the official “World of Warcraft” lore. In 2012, with the expansion Mists of Pandaria, the Pandaren actually became a playable race in the game, turning the April Fools’ joke from 2002 into a significant part of WoW’s history.
Blizzard has thus shown several times that real features can emerge from April Fools’ jokes. Even at MeinMMO, we pulled a joke this year to lead you astray. You can find our April Fools’ joke here: Video games are getting more expensive – publishers agree on “1 for 1” system
