by Hald Twinpack

December 18, 2024

Is WoW a dead game: World of Warcraft’s current state in 2024

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If you’re wondering, “Is WoW a dead game?” and whether you should start playing or return to World of Warcraft, this article is a must-read. Stick around until the end, where we’ve included some official Blizzard stats for you to decide for yourself.

Is WoW alive in 2024? Seems like it most certainly is. Its development is active and consistent. The player count is something many other MMORPGs can only dream of. Yet there is an argument to be made that WoW is closer to being dead than most online games today.

So the question is, is WoW a dead game? Let’s explore further, take a look at WoW’s game stats, and seek out the answer!

What is a dead game?

The state of being dead means several things for an online game. Usually, the most important indicators of a title’s “death” are:

• Absence of an active player base. It occurs when people stop investing themselves in the project as much as they did before, or when they just quit playing completely. Black Desert Online exemplifies such a situation.
• Termination of development. Though it doesn’t happen that often, it’s still an obviously bad sign for a game. The developers stop supporting the game for certain reasons.

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World of Warcraft overview

World of Warcraft debuted in 2004, leading forward the story told in the Warcraft game series. It was like a volcano eruption in the world of MMORPGs. This genre was not as diverse as it is today. Aside from games like Ragnarok Online, there were not that many other MMOs to choose from.

WoW’s golden age

The project was not only dominating the charts as an MMORPG, but also making a significant impact on the broader gaming industry. It boasted a player base larger than that of the most popular games of that era, surpassing titles such as:

• GTA San Andreas
• Battlefield 2
• Final Fantasy XI
• NFS: Most Wanted
• TES IV: Oblivion

So it was not only the king of MMO games. It was the king of games, period. But where does this popularity come from?

1. It was a significant push forward for the MMORPG genre. No other project could compete with WoW in the graphics quality, lore depth, gameplay mechanics, combat responsiveness, and so on.
2. It continued the story of Warcraft. Many people wanted to go exploring Azeroth after playing Warcraft III. Besides, there were many unanswered questions left after going through the campaign. For instance, “What’s going to happen to Illidan Stormrage in the Outland?”and “Will Arthas ever be free of Frostmourne’s whispers?”
3. The social interaction element was second to none. Some might say that WoW played a pivotal role in popularizing it. .Today we can see the influence of social interaction even in games designed for solo-play, such as Genshin Impact or the Diablo series.

The first several years were a massive success for World of Warcraft. The player base was going up with each passing year. The first expansions, The Burning Crusade and The Wrath of the Lich King, each made the MMO jump a few million subscribers higher. After the release of the Icecrown Citadel raid, the active player base was close to 20 million people.

The fall of the king

Since we do not see such huge numbers these days, a question comes to mind — when did WoW start declining? The short answer to that would be 2010–2011, the time of the Cataclysm launch. This expansion’s release was, undoubtedly, a huge reason why the game went downhill. Many players either lost interest after their triumph over the Lich King or expressed discontent with what Cataclysm introduced. For instance, things like the Looking For Raid system and new talent trees.

However, the period everything in WoW went downhill was also the time of the ascension of other projects. Industry giants started appearing in the arena, including:

• Minecraft
• TES V: Skyrim
• Diablo III
• COD: Black Ops II

These were practically the first ones to surpass World of Warcraft. WoW’s player count dropped to approximately half of what it was during the peak of WotLK. However, its player base remained massive, and until now, it’s still among the top-played projects. It’s just that the reigning king had lost his crown.

Some of the further expansions boosted WoW’s popularity and attracted many people. However, that boost’s effect was usually only seen at the beginning of the expansions. After Cataclysm, they go as follows:

• Mists of Pandaria (September 2012)
• Warlords of Draenor (November 2014)
• The Legion (August 2016)
• Battle for Azeroth (August 2018)
• Shadowlands (November 2020)
• Dragonflight (November 2022)

Unfortunately, a clear tendency can be seen throughout all of these: the player base is going down. Some of the abovementioned expansions were more successful than the others, but they all had one thing in common. People come with the new content release, and then the player count goes to the same spot in a couple of months.

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The current state of WoW 2024

Do people still play WoW? They do, in fact, which you can prove for yourself in many ways. You may check any gaming charts you can find online and see that millions of people play the game to this day. You may go to Raider.io and see the latest Mythic+ rankings or how many people have completed one or the other raid. At last, check out the Hardcore servers — they are popping off! So why do so many people presume that the game is dying?

Factors that make WoW look dead

Although the player base numbers are great to this day, it’s crucial to understand that half of the people play Classic rather than Retail, especially with the release of WoW Classic Fresh. However, while Classic continues to thrive, it’s largely fueled by nostalgia, with most of its players being veterans from the early days of WoW. To truly assess World of Warcraft’s problems and answer the question “Is WoW worth it anymore,” it’s essential to take a look at Retail:

1. Long queues. Have you ever been waiting for a PvP opponent for more than an hour? That happens quite often today. Since the introduction of Solo Shuffle, many PvPers have been experiencing various issues in this aspect of the game.
2. Invitation thresholds. It is crazy how much a player has to have just to get into a M+ or raid party these days. Play a meta spec, bring food, install addons, do damage, and be an expert in 10 different boss mechanics going on simultaneously.
3. New-player unfriendliness. WoW is getting more and more complex with each expansion. Imagine all the struggle a newbie has to go through to try out everything it has to offer today.

In summary, only a fraction of players are willing to invest the effort required to access endgame content. Meanwhile, veteran players are gradually leaving, and new players aren’t joining quickly enough. Can a game in such a state still be considered alive? Surprisingly, the answer is yes—WoW is not only alive but thriving, thanks to Blizzard’s recent decisions and updates.

Still breathing: Why WoW is actually alive

Despite everything said, WoW cannot be identified as a dead game due to many reasons:

• In 2024, Blizzard rolled out a wealth of new content that has reignited excitement within the World of Warcraft community:
  • The Worldsoul Saga, a trio of expansions, is finally addressing “that sword,” generating significant hype among players.
  • WoW Retail has seen a surge of exciting updates and events, including the MoP Remix, Plunderstorm, and more.
  • Blizzard launched brand-new WoW Classic Fresh servers, allowing fans to relive the journey of WoW Classic from the very beginning—an initiative that has been met with overwhelming enthusiasm. When WoW Classic was released, it brought the game back to over 10 million active subscribers and boosted the average player count by several million for years to follow. The Classic versions of The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King expansions were also highly successful, further reigniting interest in the MMO. With this legacy in mind, the launch of Fresh WoW Classic is expected to recreate the same magic.
• One of the events that made WoW boom once more is the Classic Hardcore servers’ launch. Surprisingly, millions of players have found the one-life-only adventure the most wonderful and engaging experience. The game mode has considerably increased both the player base and the streaming platforms’ viewership for WoW.
• Huge player base. Though it has lost millions of subscribers since its peak, it is still one of the most-played MMOs today.
• Constant development. Blizzard’s roadmap remains packed, with numerous plans already in place for 2025, including expansions, new seasons, and patches. Such ongoing efforts wouldn’t be happening unless the developers believed the game was still worth investing in.
• Community engagement. Blizzard has been doing their best recently to set the game’s course in accordance with the players’ opinions. That is proved by the new customization options, playable class-race combinations, official Hardcore servers release, etc.
• People’s love. Even those who criticize WoW today still love it and want it to develop in a positive direction. Many players who have quit are ready to come back the moment the game gets better.
• Still the king. Why is WoW still the best MMO? No one has yet beaten it in terms of gameplay. It is probably the best choice today for casual players who do not overthink the game’s internal issues and just want to enjoy themselves.

These points indicate that it’s early to write World of Warcraft off as a dead game.

Blizzard releases 2024 end-of-year game stats

Blizzard Entertainment’s 2024 end-of-year update reveals staggering numbers that highlight the continued popularity of their games, including World of Warcraft, other games in the Warcraft franchise, and many others:

• 8.34 billion total hours played across all games and platforms in 2024. That’s 952,055 years of playtime—long enough to walk around the Earth 1 million times.
• 378 million messages sent on Battle.net. If you spent 5 seconds reading each one, it would take 60 years of non-stop reading to get through them all.
• 4.5 billion Spiders and Nerubians slain in World of Warcraft. Combined, their weight would equal 100,000 pounds—the same as a North Pacific blue whale.
• 400 million Cenarion minis deployed in Warcraft Rumble. That’s one Cenarion for every 1,000 trees in the Amazon rainforest.

Blizzard’s other games and franchises also saw impressive stats:

• In Hearthstone, over 4 billion Murloc Minions were played in Battlegrounds 2024 YTD. That’s more Murlocs than the combined populations of the US, China, India, and all of Europe.
• In Diablo IV, 1.7 trillion demons were killed all-time. That’s almost as many demons as there are domesticated honeybees on Earth.
• In Diablo Immortal, 480 million total player deaths were recorded. Stack that many smartphones flat, and they’d reach over 3,700 kilometers—enough to touch the highest layer of Earth’s atmosphere.
• In Overwatch, players spent 203 years collectively on 2024’s new maps, Hanaoka and Throne of Anubis. That’s enough time to fly to Neptune and back eight times.

So, while some may still have doubts, it’s clear that in 2024, World of Warcraft and Blizzard as a whole have achieved impressive milestones, proving the enduring popularity of the Warcraft franchise and its dedicated fanbase.

Conclusion

Our beloved MMORPG is far from dead—it’s simply not as popular as it once was. Looking back over the 20-year journey since its release, it’s evident that many players have moved on. External factors, such as the rise of competing games and the time constraints of players who are now adults juggling real-life responsibilities, have contributed to this decline. Of course, internal issues within the game also play a role. However, it seems Blizzard is beginning to take steps in the right direction to restore WoW to its former glory.