What is the future of World of Warcraft?

[Maple]

I logged back into WoW yesterday for the first time in months (Classic) and remembered just how much I enjoy traveling around the world, meeting random players, completing quests and leveling up my character. It was during a certain quest that I randomly started wondering about the future of WoW. The game has been around for about 15 years already, and new expansions have been coming out every two years. Classic has been released, and I think it's highly likely we see The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King servers as well (I think Blizzard's goal is to eventually get TBC and WotLK servers up and running along with Classic to allow players to simply play the version of the game they prefer).

But then I started thinking about the long term future of the game. Does the game have another 15+ years left in it? Will Blizzard continue the steady cadence of new expansions every few years? Is there even enough lore/material for them to keep making expansions for that long? I could see Blizzard eventually ceasing to make new content for the game and moving on to something else, but I think the servers would be left up indefinitely even if that happened. Some people have speculated about a "WoW 2" for a while on a brand new next-generation engine, and I could honestly see something like that happening eventually, although I don't know if it would supplant the current version of WoW.

What do you think is the most likely long term outcome for WoW?

 

[Lashley]

People have predicted WoW would die "soon" for nearly a decade now, wouldn't be surprised if we still see expansions in the 2030s

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Aside from the choices in the poll: WoW Musou

 

[Cyanity]

Blizzard is probably gonna continue supporting the game well into the future. I don't see the appeal at all. SO's roommate is somehow hopelessly addicted though, so thanks Blizzard.

 

[JCizzle]

I think expansions will continue at least until 2030. I am curious what they plan to do with Classic - continue the rollout indefinitely? That brings the same problem they were trying to fix by introducing Classic.

 

[OldBenKenobi]

I think with how popular it is still, blizzard will keep the game going with expansions for a while. Shadowlands has been excellent.

 

[Finaj]

Shadowlands sold 3.7 million copies on release. I imagine they'll keep releasing an expansion every two years like they always do.

That being said, I wouldn't mind the next expansion (10.0) taking more time to implement an overhaul of the game a la Cataclysm.

 

[Weebos]

I don't think they have any reason to slow down now, with Shadowlands doing quite well during its launch.

 

[GenericBadGuy]

It'll hopefully be easier to give answer to this question after the upcoming Blizzcon. For me personally the very long term future will not matter, I think. I plan to play the Classic versions of Burning Crusade and WotLK and that's it, if I even make it that far. Classic has shown I can have a lot of fun with a great group of older nostalgic players, but it's tough to keep up with the time sink.

 

[Sandfox]

From my understanding Shadowlands did extremely well, so they have no reason to change what they are doing until that changes.

 

[ThreepQuest64]

Wasn't the addon the most popular PC game last year or something?

Seeing that some really old MMO are still alive and this one is still well supported (also by players) I don't see it vanishing soon. That doesn't mean they won't switch to a new engine or something in the future. But WoW is most certainly here to stay.

 

[SilverArrow20XX]

Everquest is still getting expansions.
WoW isn't going anywhere for a long time.

 

[elenarie]

There will never be a WoW 2 because they will not be able to justify a full on subscription without having a valid free to play way. The few games that still require entire subscriptions are very much the only ones left with that legacy business model. Especially not in times when Game Pass and similar services exist.

WoW will keep getting more expansions until it is sustainable to do so. They are already working on the next few expansions. Starcraft 2 was getting content for 10 years, with the later half of the lifecycle being sustained only by the eSports related advertising and the new coop content drops that they released. Which monetary-wise, was far, far lower than WoW makes on an ongoing basis.

They already have support for raytracing. Enough with the new engine talk already, how WoW plays and looks is a deliberate choice of art and design, nothing to do with the tech that they have. They have one of, if not, the most impressive live servicing tech out there, and other companies would beg to get their hands on it.

 

[CHC]

I think a mix of option A and D. More option A, but I think in ~10 years the expansions may become more frequent and less extravagant. More like content patches, adding new arenas or a single zone or something like that. But who knows, I mean the expansions still sell well (I buy them!) and they're fun to play for at least the first few weeks.

 

[Starlatine]

it will die in the next *checks clock* two seconds
woops sorry folks you blinked you missed it. RIP wow

Game will be fine. It's crazy how many people still daily play it. Blizzard seems keen on supporting it for as long as they do too, and it doesnt look like things are changing any time soon

 

[Gero]

Making expansions until the end of time. They wont ever make a brand new MMO again

 

[dodo]

shadowlands sold truckloads and seems to be doing quite well, but most importantly the game has weathered several very poorly received expansions. it's not going anywhere anytime soon, even if blizzard makes a WoW 2 or something insane like that.

 

[jaymzi]

Never ending cycle of expansion release resulting in a huge resurgence in subscription numbers only to drop drastically over the next two years until the next expansion.

 

[Xando]

They'll make xpacs as long as they make profit on it

 

[Deleted member 864]

They'll keep making expansions.

Probably until the end of time lol

 

[xenonium]

Wow 2 is never going to happen. Legacy content is a huge pull for many people.

 

[StarStorm]

We're gonna keep seeing expansions and WoW 2 probably will never happen as WoW still makes them a ton of money. I came back shortly after Legion. I quitted way back in WoTLK and I played during WoW's launch week. I expect a new expansion every 2 years. Why mess up a good thing?

 

[Sabin]

A WoW reboot will never happen.

They will make Addons until it stops being profitable.

 

[LordRuyn]

There will never be a WoW 2 because they will not be able to justify a full on subscription without having a valid free to play way. The few games that still require entire subscriptions are very much the only ones left with that legacy business model. Especially not in times when Game Pass and similar services exist.

WoW will keep getting more expansions until it is sustainable to do so. They are already working on the next few expansions. Starcraft 2 was getting content for 10 years, with the later half of the lifecycle being sustained only by the eSports related advertising and the new coop content drops that they released. Which monetary-wise, was far, far lower than WoW makes on an ongoing basis.

They already have support for raytracing. Enough with the new engine talk already, how WoW plays and looks is a deliberate choice of art and design, nothing to do with the tech that they have. They have one of, if not, the most impressive live servicing tech out there, and other companies would beg to get their hands on it.

Click to shrink...

This right here!

Also, there's no real way to pull off WoW 2 neatly, not just in terms of business model but also as a game in general. What they could do is a major relaunch with 10.0 where they essentially modernize the engine's code and declutter a bit. They did something similar with progression and levelling in Shadowlands already.

Also, they could update their API to offer some more features. I've run into the issue where I want more info on certain things but it's just not available through TSM mostly due to API limitations.

 

[sedael]

Tbh, I think the Shadowlands squish is as close to wow 2 as we really will see. They both revamped the engine, adding ray tracing and other improvements, and set themselves up to do the same 60->50 level squish to start each expansion. not really any reason to do a full reboot at this point, just more expansions while treating all past content as equivalent and slowly increasing engine capabilities.

 

[Maple]

They both revamped the engine, adding ray tracing

Click to shrink...

I thought it was just ray-traced shadows? Or is it full blown ray tracing?

But yes, the engine is continually revamped, modified, and modernized. Although I feel like there still may be limitations in just how many changes they can make to it.

 

[AWizardDidIt]

I thought it was just ray-traced shadows? Or is it full blown ray tracing?

But yes, the engine is continually revamped, modified, and modernized. Although I feel like there still may be limitations in just how many changes they can make to it.

Click to shrink...

Just shadows and it's barely an implementation at all.

 

[ErrorJustin]

WoW still commands a $13-$15 monthly sub fee from MILLIONS of gamers.

The day that stops being the case the game can transition to F2P / Freemium and will live on for another 10+ years minimum in that state.

 

[Deleted member 4346]

They aren't going to reboot the game. New MMO development is so expensive and so risky, rebooting your subscriber base and asking them to toss out 15 plus years of progression. Final Fantasy XI is still running, Everquest is still running. World of Warcraft will get new expansions for another decade or more, I'm pretty sure, given that it peaked with 10x the subscribers that these games did. And I think the game will continue to do fine. Still plenty of players "chasing the dragon" and trying to get the thrill that they used to get from WoW during its heyday.

I think in general Final Fantasy XIV is the last big "reboot" of an MMO franchise that we are going to see, and even that is kinda aging.

 

[Tryphosa]

WoW will continue to roll on despite doom sayers saying this is the xpac to kill it. They really did capture lightning in a bottle.

 

[Raigor]

Keep making expansions, that's the future

World of Warcraft Shadowlands is the fastest selling PC game of all time (>3.7 million units in the first 24 hours) News

Nothing stops the WoW train.

www.resetera.com

 

[Ferrio]

World of Warcraft 40K

 

[Blizniak]

Steam first, free to play later

 

[Bonefish]

There doesn't need to be a WoW 2 when you consider already how much improvement there has been to the game's graphics since release and all the constant gameplay overhauls it continuously gets. There's a reason classic is a thing. The game doesn't look or play really anything like it did in 2005. The only thing left that Blizzard could possibly do to "update" the game is a massive UI overhaul, and who knows if that will happen. Not to mention each Expansion is basically a reset, so in effect you can basically look at each expansion as being a sequel game at this point.

 

[Reformed Individual]

I honestly don't know.

MMORPGs are my favourite genre of game, I've played a lot of MMORPGs over the years so I like to think I have a solid idea of what makes an MMORPG good. WoW however is the one outlier because I do not understand how it is still as popular as it is. The quality of content is very very poor these days. The combat, while fluid, is relatively boring since it has barely changed in 16 years. The story has gone massively downhill. They've massively neglected certain parts of the game such as PvP. The only reason it is still as popular as it is is that people don't want to give up on it. They want it to be as good as it was back in 2004-2010 so they constantly buy the new expacs hoping the new one will be better than the last.

I'd love Blizzard to try their hand at a new MMORPG or a WoW 2, but they never will as long as WoW keeps raking in the money from all the die-hard fanboys who just do not want it to die. While I have my eye on other MMORPGs atm such as Ashes of Creation, I don't think it will "kill" WoW because they attract entirely different audiences. However, maybe Riots new MMO will be a competitor with WoW since I'm guessing Riot will still try to go a relatively "safe" route and attempt to emulate WoWs formula.

 

[Neoxon]

Didn't most of the old WoW devs move on to Overwatch? Either way, they'll probably just keep going with the expansions (if it ain't broke, don't fix it).

 

[GattsuSama]

I wish they would find a way to do a sequel or move on into the next thing that is similar but with a ton of graphical improvements or something?

I haven't played in years and I am not the biggest fan, but could they pull some sort of FF14 Reborn reboot that improves on everything while still being the same game?

 

[Deleted member 34714]

WoW atm seems like the place where new hires get a training course in to keep the game afloat. All the old vets that made WoW huge are likely gone.

Apparently D4 is their big bet where people are pulled from other projects to get that game out including hiring that VP from Xbox and Rod Ferg from Gears series to oversee the project. lol?

 

[Deleted member 4346]

I honestly don't know.

MMORPGs are my favourite genre of game, I've played a lot of MMORPGs over the years so I like to think I have a solid idea of what makes an MMORPG good. WoW however is the one outlier because I do not understand how it is still as popular as it is. The quality of content is very very poor these days. The combat, while fluid, is relatively boring since it has barely changed in 16 years. The story has gone massively downhill. They've massively neglected certain parts of the game such as PvP. The only reason it is still as popular as it is is that people don't want to give up on it. They want it to be as good as it was back in 2004-2010 so they constantly buy the new expacs hoping the new one will be better than the last.

I'd love Blizzard to try their hand at a new MMORPG or a WoW 2, but they never will as long as WoW keeps raking in the money from all the die-hard fanboys who just do not want it to die. While I have my eye on other MMORPGs atm such as Ashes of Creation, I don't think it will "kill" WoW because they attract entirely different audiences. However, maybe Riots new MMO will be a competitor with WoW since I'm guessing Riot will still try to go a relatively "safe" route and attempt to emulate WoWs formula.

Click to shrink...

People have 15 years invested in their WoW accounts. They are not going to want to give that up en masse. Blizzard isn't going to risk that when they can just put out a new expac every few years.

I agree with the rest, though I liked Legion despite some of the issues there. World of Warcraft has had poor-quality content in general for a very long time, starting with Cataclysm, really. The story is stupid and uninteresting. The engine is a bloated pig with superficial improvements layered on dated models and underpinnings. PvP is neglected, you're right. But none of this has been enough to kill off the game. I got friends still chasing the vanilla/BC/WotLK glory days in WoW even today. They sub for a month or two for each expansion, then get bored and quit again.

 

[Tygre]

Everquest 2 had an expansion released this year:

Oh, sorry, did I say Everquest 2? I meant Everquest:

WoW will have expansions for a long, long time yet.

 

[Moff]

I honestly don't know.

MMORPGs are my favourite genre of game, I've played a lot of MMORPGs over the years so I like to think I have a solid idea of what makes an MMORPG good. WoW however is the one outlier because I do not understand how it is still as popular as it is. The quality of content is very very poor these days. The combat, while fluid, is relatively boring since it has barely changed in 16 years. The story has gone massively downhill. They've massively neglected certain parts of the game such as PvP. The only reason it is still as popular as it is is that people don't want to give up on it. They want it to be as good as it was back in 2004-2010 so they constantly buy the new expacs hoping the new one will be better than the last.

I'd love Blizzard to try their hand at a new MMORPG or a WoW 2, but they never will as long as WoW keeps raking in the money from all the die-hard fanboys who just do not want it to die. While I have my eye on other MMORPGs atm such as Ashes of Creation, I don't think it will "kill" WoW because they attract entirely different audiences. However, maybe Riots new MMO will be a competitor with WoW since I'm guessing Riot will still try to go a relatively "safe" route and attempt to emulate WoWs formula.

Click to shrink...

"very very poor content"? what other MMO does pve nearly as good as WoW? dungeons and raids?
honest question I haven't seriously played any MMO except WoW and SWTOR.

 

[OldBenKenobi]

WoW will continue to roll on despite doom sayers saying this is the xpac to kill it. They really did capture lightning in a bottle.

Click to shrink...

Who is sayIng this? SL brought a lot of quality changes to WoW for the better and IMO it's one of their best expansions yet.

I honestly don't know.

MMORPGs are my favourite genre of game, I've played a lot of MMORPGs over the years so I like to think I have a solid idea of what makes an MMORPG good. WoW however is the one outlier because I do not understand how it is still as popular as it is. The quality of content is very very poor these days. The combat, while fluid, is relatively boring since it has barely changed in 16 years. The story has gone massively downhill. They've massively neglected certain parts of the game such as PvP. The only reason it is still as popular as it is is that people don't want to give up on it. They want it to be as good as it was back in 2004-2010 so they constantly buy the new expacs hoping the new one will be better than the last.

I'd love Blizzard to try their hand at a new MMORPG or a WoW 2, but they never will as long as WoW keeps raking in the money from all the die-hard fanboys who just do not want it to die. While I have my eye on other MMORPGs atm such as Ashes of Creation, I don't think it will "kill" WoW because they attract entirely different audiences. However, maybe Riots new MMO will be a competitor with WoW since I'm guessing Riot will still try to go a relatively "safe" route and attempt to emulate WoWs formula.

Click to shrink...

This is a weird post after the success that has been Shadowlands. Imo this expansion has been one of their best.

 

[fuzzyset]

There's no chance they release a WoW 2. The game basically is WoW 2. Everything has been completely overhauled (graphics included) like 4 times at this point.

 

[Magnus]

Who is sayIng this? SL brought a lot of quality changes to WoW for the better and IMO it's one of their best expansions yet.

This is a weird post after the success that has been Shadowlands. Imo this expansion has been one of their best.

Click to shrink...

Agreed on both counts. If the rest of SL is as good as 9.0, it will trump Legion as their best expansion ever (in my humble opinion).

 

[PeskyToaster]

They can go anywhere they want as long as WoW Classic exists. It's a beautiful little world.

 

[Belfast]

My question is that it feels they're running out of lore to squeeze expansions out of. They've already managed to spread it thinner than I anticipated.

 

[Thrill_house]

Good question. This is the first expansion I jumped right into since cataclysm and damn does the game feel samey, boring and weak. Classic holds my attention far more and I don't dig some of these mechanics that are straight out of a damn mobile game.

I think we need a sequel with hige changes. It won't happen as they can keep churning out lame expansions but it is what I would want.

 

[Reformed Individual]

"very very poor content"? what other MMO does pve nearly as good as WoW? dungeons and raids?
honest question I haven't seriously played any MMO except WoW and SWTOR.

Click to shrink...

Instanced raids and dungeons are probably the one bit of content WoW still does pretty well. Problem is, other than instanced raids/dungeons, there really isn't any other meaningful PvE content.

Personally, I really dislike the idea of instanced content being the main part of an MMORPG. It takes away from the feeling of having this massive open-world since you are completely cut off from it all except from 4 (dungeons) or 24 (raids) other players.

 

[fuzzyset]

Instanced raids and dungeons are probably the one bit of content WoW still does pretty well. Problem is, other than instanced raids/dungeons, there really isn't any other meaningful PvE content.

Personally, I really dislike the idea of instanced content being the main part of an MMORPG. It takes away from the feeling of having this massive open-world since you are completely cut off from it all except from 4 (dungeons) or 24 (raids) other players.

Click to shrink...

Is there a MMO that doesn't have instances as the main end game?

 

[SkoomaBlade]

Instead of WoW 2 they should do World of Starcraft.