World of Warcraft is returning to China in August 2024. But not just like that. The Blizzard officials are putting on their spending pants for the comeback and breaking with previous rules.
When is the return of WoW to China? The Chinese version of World of Warcraft is set to go live on August 1, 2024. A pre-patch phase will also start then, which is expected to culminate in the global launch of WoW: The War Within on August 26th or 27th, 2024.
However, the Blizzard officials are not simply implementing their comeback and the renewed partnership with NetEase. Instead, they are investing significantly to bring the shocked Chinese community back onboard to Azeroth.
WoW: The War Within launches in August! Here you can see the latest trailer for the expansion:
What measures are Blizzard and NetEase taking? Of course, all old accounts are to be restored. Additionally, the developers are striving to ensure that Chinese players can catch up on as much missed content as possible and that there is some form of compensation for the lost time.
- New servers for Wrath of the Lich King Classic are already online, which are intended to enable Chinese players to catch up on the Northrend adventure in a highly supported (and shortened) phase and land in Cataclysm Classic in a timely manner.
- When the servers of modern WoW go live, Chinese players will receive as a bonus 14 days of playtime, two free mounts, the aura pet, currency for the trading post, and access to a new trading post NPC offering missed cosmetic items from the past months.
- In this pre-patch phase, the level phase from 60 to 70 will be significantly shortened so that everyone can prepare in time for The War Within.
- Mists of Pandaria Remix will unfortunately be missed by the Chinese community. However, the battle royale mode Plunderstorm is to be made up for. All players are to have the opportunity to obtain the rewards from MoP Remix in other ways.
Especially noteworthy: Blizzard has so far refrained from participating in the World First races for the launch of a raid tier and has let the community organize them solely. This will change for the upcoming race in The War Within, at least for the Chinese community and in collaboration with NetEase.
Specifically, about $137,500 is available for the winning guild in the prize pool. If there are no winning guilds within the event period, the prize money will carry over to the world-first race of the next raid tier and be increased by $27,000 each time. This esports event will only exist for the Chinese region. European and American pro guilds must play Tarisland to receive money from developers for quickly defeated raid bosses.
