The inventor of Warcraft believes that the name is not that great. Because somehow it sounds much too sinister.
No matter how you twist it, Warcraft in its various forms has been groundbreaking for the video game industry. Whether it’s the worldwide success of Warcraft III or the massive MMORPG World of Warcraft, which will celebrate the launch of its 11th expansion in just a few days – most people know the name “Warcraft” by hearsay, whether they are involved with video games or not.
However, Chris Metzen, the inventor of Warcraft, sometimes wishes he hadn’t named the world that way.
Warcraft sounds too terrifying
What was said? In an interview with “The Game Business Show” on YouTube, Holly Longdale and Ion Hazzikostas from Blizzard talked about Warcraft as a whole, the franchise’s past, and its future. They discussed a lot about how Warcraft (and WoW) is now so much more than just a small game world where orcs and humans beat each other up. Holly also talked about a small detail:
I believe Warcraft is ready for growth, it is a fantastic IP. In my humble opinion, I think it has been underutilized, and I want to bring it to as many people as possible. And that means evolving what Warcraft is and what it means. We want to be accessible.
Even talking to Chris Metzen, we discuss this. Sometimes he says things like, “Man, I wish we hadn’t called it Warcraft. That sounds so terrifying!”
However, Holly reassures right away:
Nobody thinks that about Warhammer either. That’s a name that is just understood.
What does that mean? When people hear the name Warcraft, they probably think of exactly that: War craft. Armies, weapons, soldiers. That’s of course all part of (World of) Warcraft, but just a very small aspect. The game world and the franchise are so much more. It’s a colorful and sometimes dark fantasy world where other stories also have their place.
Cortyn says: Even though some are now fantasizing that “Chris Metzen wants to remove the War from Warcraft”, that is probably not what he means. Because I understand Metzen’s statement that “Warcraft” seems a bit intimidating and is also directly loaded with reservations. I still remember well when I wanted to tell some adults about Warcraft in my youth and got a response like, “War means war; I already know everything I need to know.”
There was then no opportunity to explain that behind World of Warcraft is not a world that is constantly about war and slaughter, but also about social structures like guilds, new friendships, and numerous other ways to have fun in the game.
If you want to know what story lies behind Warcraft, we have summarized the whole story for you.
