Just how long will World of Warcraft continue to be a thing? The game, that is now ten years old, was dying, or so many thought, for multiple years, suffering from subscriber declines and flagging interest. But then, something seems to have changed in the last few months, as the game started to pick up subscribers and interest again, especially ahead of the launch of the newest expansion. Maybe it’s because the cancellation of Blizzard’s next gen MMO, Titan, assures people that Blizzard plans to remain committed to World of Warcraft for a good, long while, or something.
I don’t know. But the long and short of it is, the game isn’t going anywhere soon, and I think most people have just resigned themselves to that. In fact, Blizzard believes the game will still be a fixture of the gaming landscape in 2024, a full ten years from now.
“I definitely can’t tell you what our 20th anniversary is going to be. I can tell you there is definitely going to be one,” lead designer Ion Hazzikostas said to CNET. “I have no doubt saying that. We’re definitely planning into the future, talking about what the next expansion is going to be, and what the one after that is going to be, just in terms of big picture storylines, how can we start setting things up now, where do we want the game to go. Ultimately it’s all one step at a time.”
This is, of course, in line with Blizzard’s prior statements about how they are thinking ahead with the game, and planning to keep it around for a very long time.
Personally, while I have no doubt the game will definitely be around longer than I would have believed possible just a few years ago, I simply don’t see it being a thing in 2024. But maybe I’ll be wrong. We’ll see.