MeinMMO demon Cortyn looks at the Disneyfication of World of Warcraft – and what is true or not.
When looking at the various discussions surrounding World of Warcraft, whether on YouTube, in different forums like the game’s subreddit, or in comments on gaming sites, there has been a recurring accusation about WoW lately: Everything is becoming cuter, everything is being trimmed to more peace, joy, and cake.
Many, especially former WoW fans who today earn their bread mainly by rejecting it, like Asmongold, talk about the “Disneyfication,” referring to many old Disney movies where the power of friendship or love, along with a cute art style, decides everything.
From my perspective, this is quite a gross absurdity.
The Fairy Tale of Disneyfication of WoW
What bothers me quite a bit is that even content creators whose opinions I actually value are jumping on this bandwagon. For example, there is the YouTuber “Angelikatosh,” whom I quite like because she often provides a focused female perspective on World of Warcraft, the aesthetics of the game or reasons for playing. Those were thoughts that I often found well-founded or at least understandable.
But when it comes to the supposed Disneyfication, there is extreme exaggeration, things are put in a strange focus, one side of the story is simply ignored, or an extreme example is taken, while counterexamples are completely overlooked:
For example, it is often pointed out that now very lively appearances can be chosen during character creation. Bright colors with lots of decorations. There are rather silly outfits like pajamas or Murloc costumes or even beach outfits. That’s true.
But at the same time, the spectrum has also expanded in the other direction – but this is left out. You can create Night Elves with really nasty-looking scars, blind one eye, and get equipment that gives you the dark Amazonian look of a millennia-old shield maiden or guardian.
World of Warcraft has simply become broader in its presentation. There are definitely more options to be cute or colorful – but at the same time, much more customization that allows for a dark, martial look.
Even Classic Had Silly Elements
It is often forgotten that we already made fun of Sylvanas in Classic. The dark leader of the Forsaken still had a Night Elf model back then. This meant that she always said: “Aren’t we all slaves to this torture?” … only to shortly afterward do the typical “Night Elf bounce,” where she hops lightly up and down, undermining her credibility.
Especially the criticism that in modern World of Warcraft “the power of friendship” or the “collaboration of the factions” is necessary to overcome threats is mentioned repeatedly.
And that’s true. Whether it was about the final boss of Dragonflight or the purification of the Darkwell in Midnight – cooperation and “let’s pull together and put aside our enmity” occurs frequently.
But you know what? This has been the case since Warcraft III. Cooperation is the essence of Warcraft, even if many do not want to admit it today. Please remember the finale of the Warcraft III campaign. The humans, orcs, and night elves joined forces to stop the demon army. They do this by having Malfurion blow into a large horn, and thousands of little sparkling wisps come flying in to engulf the archdemon.
Many have just somehow forgotten this.
And yes, Vanilla WoW also had this cooperation in its story. One of the largest server events was precisely this collaboration: The opening of the gates of Ahn’Qiraj. Here, both factions had to gather war supplies so that the armies of Horde and Alliance could then jointly defeat the enemies from the ruins.
The same was true in the preparation for Naxxramas. Here, both factions worked together for the Argent Dawn.
The only major difference is that today there are animated cutscenes that depict it filmically as well. This is simply an additional storytelling element, while the theme of the story – namely cooperation and resolving conflicts for the greater goal – has not changed.
Warcraft Has Always Been Both – Dark and “Disney”
I could continue this list further, as those who talk about Disneyfication do too. They highlight individual quests that were “so hard and so dark” and then point to some modern quest that deals with love or friendship.
Again, it is ignored that there are quests in Midnight that end with a living troll being impaled for years by a spear above a gate as punishment for not being good enough at cheating. Or a quest in which a blood elf mage lures homeless people with money, only to kill them in demonic rituals.
Here too, the palette has simply become broader. There are dark elements, but also friendly, positive, and often even profound and emotional ones. This also applies to the cinematics. Yes, there are the colorful, cheerful trailers, such as the housing in WildStar style. It is cute. It is silly. That’s what it’s supposed to be, because housing is a “Feel Good” feature. At the same time, there are trailers like the backstory of Liadrin, where she kills her foster father. That’s dark, that’s brutal.
Both are Warcraft.
It seems to me that former fans of World of Warcraft are just constantly searching for something to keep talking negatively about a game that they fundamentally no longer play or know – and I find that quite sad. Because I believe that it would do the WoW community a lot of good if they pulled together. No matter if they are passionate defenders of Retail, Classic purists, or “Wrath of the Lich King” veterans.
There is much to criticize about World of Warcraft. In Classic, the lack of balance between classes, in Retail, the questionable state of patches, or the sheer amount of content being pumped out. But whenever I read about the “Disneyfication,” I think after 2 sentences: They have pulled out an extreme example and completely ignore that Warcraft has always been a world where both could coexist – the dark, but also the silly. Just click on units in Warcraft III long enough, and you’ll know what I mean.
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!