After Battle for Azeroth has been playable for a few days, Blizzard has revealed the first sales figures for the new expansion. It shows: With BfA, World of Warcraft has set a sales record.
In a press release, Blizzard wrote about the launch and development of Battle for Azeroth. The PR campaign, which aimed to raise awareness of the faction among players of the Horde and the Alliance, seems to have worked well.
Battle for Azeroth is the fastest-selling expansion
According to the announcement, Battle for Azeroth sold over 3.4 million copies worldwide on its first day of sales, August 14, 2018. This is a first-day sales record for the Warcraft franchise, making Battle for Azeroth the fastest-selling WoW expansion and one of the fastest-selling PC games of all time.
According to Blizzard’s CEO and co-founder Mike Morhaime, the release of Battle for Azeroth is just the beginning. The conflict between the Horde and the Alliance, along with their players who engage in the war campaigns, will unfold further.
How did Blizzard achieve this?
World of Warcraft has been on the market for over 14 years and has never taken a break. The servers have been continuously online, with players consistently engaged.
Setting a new record after such a long time is rare and remarkable. However, it is not entirely unexpected; the PR campaign that fueled Battle for Azeroth worked very well.
Players can better identify: In the past expansions, especially in Warlords of Draenor and Legion, the Horde and Alliance always fought together against a greater evil. With Battle for Azeroth, both the Horde and the Alliance have regained more distinct identities.
Players have become more consciously “Hordler” or “Allianzler,” as there is once again a kind of standpoint represented by their faction choice since Battle for Azeroth.
How did this happen? What particularly contributed to this is the unique advertising campaign that Blizzard organized before the release of Battle for Azeroth. In some advertisements and through contests, Blizzard encouraged players to choose between Horde or Alliance.
In specially created commercials for BfA, the conflict between the Horde and the Alliance is even portrayed in real life. The campaigns also re-engaged old players and attracted new ones.
The story plays a significant role: For existing players, the clearer divide between Horde and Alliance has also been reflected in the game. The story has drastically developed and created conflicts. There have been rumors in the community that even got out of hand and resulted in death threats against authors.
Overall, Sylvanas’s story as the new Warchief leading the Horde into war has done exactly what it was supposed to do: It has given players a new goal to strive for in Battle for Azeroth. They are fighting for something, not just against something.
The burning Teldrassil.
An easy entry: Blizzard has also made entering World of Warcraft significantly easier. For the base game up to and including Legion, players only need to have an account and pay a subscription fee – a Battlechest is no longer necessary.
Only the latest expansion Battle for Azeroth needs to be purchased additionally. And it comes with a free boost to level 110. Returners and new players can immediately play with their old friends or jump into the new content without needing to catch up first.
As Morhaime already said, the story of Battle for Azeroth is still very much at the beginning. Some new content will be unlocked in the coming weeks, while others are still to be announced. It will be seen whether Battle for Azeroth will also be the most successful of all WoW expansions.
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