16 years and World of Warcraft is still around – but why? Why does WoW survive after all this time?
The world of gaming is often short-lived and the trend from this week can be completely gone by the next week. Real guarantees of long-term stability are rare. League of Legends, Minecraft, or World of Warcraft come to mind.
But why does World of Warcraft manage to remain relevant after 16 years, even though there are so many more modern MMORPGs? The graphics are no longer fresh, the gameplay is outdated in many regards, and the subscription model seems antiquated. For newcomers to gaming, it is often hard to understand why World of Warcraft still exists and why it is still played – we want to mention a few of the reasons.
More content than any other game
Even though World of Warcraft has had to endure a lot of criticism in recent months and years – some of it quite justified – the game has a wealth of content that no other MMORPG on the market offers. No other game world is as vast and filled with quests, collectible items, and achievements as World of Warcraft.
Sure, the content is not perfectly tuned and is completely irrelevant for many endgame activities, but it exists. For those who play World of Warcraft only occasionally, just a few hours on the weekend, there is still something new to discover after 16 years.
It is clear that a revamp is slowly needed, one that would modernize all the old content in some relevant form – but WoW has this content and many players enjoy it.
World of Warcraft is a game that appeals to the masses. And the masses are generally not made up of hardcore gamers, who spend 5 to 6 hours in the game every day and scrutinize every change.
The masses are “casuals” in the friendliest sense of the word. Players who just play a little, leisurely level up, complete quests, and do not care about the best ranking in M+ or the fastest kill in the latest raid.
As a hardcore player, one often loses sight of this, but the player base of World of Warcraft is extremely diverse.
The business model: Money is guaranteed
World of Warcraft has the rather luxurious position of not only charging monthly fees in the form of a subscription but also selling a new expansion roughly every 2 years, which – depending on the version – brings in another €40 to €90.
The expansion Shadowlands was briefly the fastest-selling PC game ever. And that’s the crux of the matter.
Even if it turns out after a few weeks that the expansion is not well received, Blizzard has already cashed in. Millions of sold addons and several completed subscriptions make a WoW expansion a financial success quite quickly – even if players then rapidly lose interest afterwards.
This loss of interest is of course harmful in the long run, the community and reputation suffer as a result. But from a financial standpoint, World of Warcraft is still quite profitable – not to mention the shop items and special character services that some players take advantage of.
There are players who only play WoW
A final point is often forgotten:
There are people who do not play video games.
There are people who enjoy playing video games.
And then there are people who do not play video games, but play World of Warcraft.
What at first sounds like a contradiction does not have to be one at all. For many WoW fans, World of Warcraft is practically the only game that has ever been truly played extensively. It has often become more than a game, namely a part of daily life, just like for others watching a certain series in the evening or going to the movies on weekends.
This group of people who only play WoW as a game may not be particularly large, but they are relatively loyal. There are many reasons for this, but it probably mainly stems from the fact that they can enjoy different content and have fun just farming for an hour, engaging in pet battles, or completing some old transmog collections.
This group is not particularly bothered when a specific endgame feature – such as PvP battlegrounds, dungeons, or raids – is not optimal. Because the game has so much else to offer that you can enjoy.
And: It has become part of the routine, a fixed part of leisure time.
It is clear, however, that World of Warcraft has certainly seen better days. When one looks at the developments of recent years, the tone in the communities, such as the WoW subreddit, some forums, or guild chats, is becoming increasingly harsh. Dissatisfaction is growing, and Shadowlands has not delivered what many players had hoped for.
However, the fact that World of Warcraft has survived not only a “bad” expansion (Battle for Azeroth) but also the second unpopular one (Shadowlands) simply shows that World of Warcraft is resilient. On one hand, this is nice because it ensures that the game will be supported for a long time. On the other hand, it is, of course, unfortunate because it makes it obvious that the desired innovations do not have to be brought urgently – because the players are already there anyway.
What do you think about the whole thing?
