Online game "World of Warcraft"

Released in 2004, World of Warcraft still gathers millions of players and releases new expansions even after more than twenty years - the game is not just alive, but feels better than many trendy MMOs that are born and die, sometimes too quickly even for these crisis times. What is the secret of success of the main MMORPG of all times and peoples? Why, after walking through other virtual worlds, do many return to Azeroth and don't regret it?

Indeed, in 2025, World of Warcraft's leadership in user numbers remains undisputed. According to MMO Populations, the daily audience is over 200 thousand people, and ActivePlayer confirms that the number of active players exceeds 8 million. On Twitch, the game is watched by an average of 30 thousand viewers simultaneously. These are not peak figures from 2010 when there were 12 million subscriptions, but still an excellent result for a twenty-year-old game.

For comparison: most modern MMOs dream of at least a million active players. And here old-timer WoW sits on its throne and looks down on all these young upstarts. Final Fantasy XIV, of course, bites and sometimes even outperforms in some metrics, but in absolute numbers it's still the king of the hill.

The developers themselves do not disclose exact figures, providing data only through Activision Blizzard reports. However, analytical platforms confirm World of Warcraft's leadership among MMOs with a total player base of 163.4 million. For comparison, Final Fantasy XIV has 70.1 million, Old School RuneScape - 64.8 million, The Elder Scrolls Online - 25.3 million, and Black Desert Online - 13.61 million.

There are many reasons for success and such popularity, but one of the main and obvious ones is that the game has always offered many interesting adventures unfolding in such a detailed and multifaceted world as Warcraft. Initially, it was presented in the series of cult real-time strategies of the same name. And the first WoW in 2004 immediately built a bridge between the games. It directly referenced the events of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, after which Thrall's new Horde expanded, and gnomes, dwarves, and night elves joined the reborn Alliance with its center in Stormwind.

WoW's epic plot tells about various interesting events and dangers, many of which come from dragons - for example, the Highlord of Stormwind fell under the spell of the evil black dragon Onyxia, and another dragon, Nefarian, conducted intricate experiments with the blood of other dragonflights deep within Blackrock Mountain, for which he recruited the Dark Horde. At the same time, the ancient elemental lord Ragnaros awakened and immediately wanted to destroy the Alliance and Horde. Therefore, throughout the series, heroes of both factions have to not only fight each other but also unite to deal with common enemies.

The numerous expansions to the base game (exactly 10 have been released, with the 11th planned for 2026) have repeatedly and variously expanded the story and lore of the series. Thus, Wrath of the Lich King tells about the crusade against the undead in Azeroth. In Cataclysm, a new villain appears - naturally, it's another black dragon, Deathwing the Destroyer. And the events of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria unfold after his defeat, when the smoldering conflict between the Horde and Alliance flares up again.

The situation is approximately the same in Battle for Azeroth - the peoples of Azeroth seem to have managed to stop the largest invasion of the Burning Legion, but soon after that, a new war begins between the Alliance and the Horde. The latest expansion released to date, World of Warcraft: The War Within, moves the action to a vast underground continent with four completely different zones. The main antagonist is Xal'atath - an intelligent Void entity whose spirit was imprisoned in the legendary blade of the Black Empire. And many note that here we finally have a villain with clear motivation and charisma. Xal'atath doesn't just want to kill everyone because she's evil - she has a plan, a philosophy, and even a kind of charm.

The entire current story is the first part of the Worldsoul Saga trilogy of expansions, which should conclude in 2027-2028 with the expansion The Last Titan. That is, Blizzard already knows how it will all end and is planning the plot years in advance. And next spring, we're expecting the Midnight expansion, in which we'll travel to the elven kingdom of Quel'Thalas to repel Xal'atath's invasion of Azeroth and fight the Abyssal Storm.

World of Warcraft was far from the first large and popular MMORPG - one can recall, for example, Everquest, which was released back in 1999. But it's WoW's gameplay that is considered a genre classic. You know perfectly well what the entertainment program includes - we communicate, fight, complete story and side quests, run around the open world like "Figaro here, Figaro there," killing 10 mana rays here and 15 elementals there. Although you don't have to run - you can ride various mounts or even fly on griffins and dragons. And tamed pets will scurry beside you.

You can run and fight from a first-person or third-person view (depending on camera zoom level), and the combat itself is based on a target system - we select a target and then juggle abilities on "hotkeys." This, of course, is not as dynamic as in MMOs with non-target combat, but there are abilities that allow, for example, to jump away from enemies.

However, in regular story and quest battles in the open world, the difficulty is not that high, but in boss raids and while clearing dungeons, you have to strain much more. It's generally better to go on such trials in groups (though you can try to survive in proud solitude) - and if dungeons are mainly designed for groups of up to 5 players, raids can be for 10, 15, or even 40 people. Dungeons and raids vary in size and difficulty - from normal to "Mythic Plus."

In the Mists of Pandaria and Warlords of Draenor expansions, the challenge mode appeared, which significantly enlivened the situation - a timer starts, and within the allotted time, you need to kill each boss and a certain number of enemies. In Legion, mega-dungeons debuted, allowing a small group of players to feel as if they were in a raid. And the idea of timed trials was further developed with the introduction of the Mythic+ system.

Finally, in The War Within, Delves or expeditions appeared - short and compact dungeons for solo or group play, taking no more than 15 minutes to complete. And this became a long-awaited solution for those who wanted to get decent endgame loot without gathering a 20-person raid.

Naturally, player-versus-player battles also play a huge role in WoW - over these 20+ years, they have also undergone a long evolution. Some modes lost relevance (like duels), others were added and gained popularity - the developers constantly experimented with class balance, their talents, and equipment. They also tried to do something about equalizing the factions in PvP - after all, there have always been more Horde supporters in player-versus-player battles than Alliance members.

As a result, arenas, where 2v2 or 3v3 teams fight to two wins, and battlegrounds, where larger battles take place in formats from 10v10 to 40v40 players, remain relevant. In addition, world PvP is still extremely engaging - that is, battles occurring anywhere in the open world where we oppose players of the other faction in one location or another. At the same time, it's not always just about simple extermination of enemies - there's also domination, flag capture, and other options.

However, to participate in such activities, you need to enable "War Mode" on the talents tab. Naturally, in WoW, you can create and join guilds, receiving appropriate bonuses and taking on certain obligations. By participating in player-versus-player battles, you earn, among other things, honor points and titles.

Overall, by general consensus, PvP in the third season of The War Within is in the best state in recent years. Healers are finally balanced, every class has viable builds, there are no blatantly imbalanced combinations that take you out in two seconds. However, the entry barrier is still very high. If you're a newcomer and decide to try 3v3 arena, be prepared that for the first hundred battles, you'll be lying face down on the floor, not understanding what's happening at all.

Both during dungeon clearing and in player-versus-player battles, the choice of class and specialization, as well as the competent selection and improvement of equipment using honor points, Valorstones, and Herald's Crests, are of decisive importance. At the same time, you need to know how to use your class and specialization, knowing all the pros and cons and playing your role. Today, WoW offers 13 classes - in addition to classic options like Priest, Warlock, Paladin, and Mage, there are relatively new ones (Dracthyr Evokers and Monks). They all play different roles - healer, "tank," or damage dealer, although some combine several.

Each class and specialization has its own set of abilities, and each is good at something. For example, hunters who choose the "Marksmanship" specialization deal huge damage from a distance to a single target but lose the ability to summon and tame beasts. Rogues with the "Assassination" specialization also deal significant damage to a single target, while the "Subtlety" specialization allows them to rely more on control. Fire mages are strong in dealing constant damage and using area-of-effect spells. And arcane casters control crowds, making them particularly strong in arenas.

Leveling each class is based on gaining levels and choosing talents that depend on specialization - they are divided into several branches and include both passive and active abilities. Accordingly, choosing a specialization is the most important decision. And the same can be said about professions, which essentially allow mastering various crafts like forging weapons and armor, herbalism, or mining. Each character can master no more than 2 professions.

WoW remains so popular to this day largely thanks to regular expansions and updates that constantly bring something new to the game. For example, the aforementioned The War Within, in addition to the expedition system, added heroic talents that make the character even more unique.

And the upcoming WoW: Midnight next spring, in addition to everything else (including a new Demon Hunter specialization - Devourers), will allow you to acquire your own house, which we can furnish to our taste, decorate, and turn into a museum of our achievements over all the years of playing. Moreover, it will be possible to create entire guild quarters and throw parties...

Well, and of course, it's very important how attentive the authors are to new players. There's a free trial version for newcomers where they're allowed to level up to level 20. Moreover, they can start playing not by visiting locations unique to each class, as it was in the original, where, despite different backstories, everything initially boiled down to dull quests like "Kill 6 mana rays" (wolves, lynxes, elementals, etc., insert as needed), but by going to the Exile's Reach.

This is a short but very intense and conveniently explained adventure where we not only get to fight with the chosen hero but also turn into a huge boar and literally roll over an army of undead. And then, in the form of an equally enormous orc, we perform a break-in into an enemy camp.

After "Exile's Reach," we immediately find ourselves in the capital, in the huge, beautiful Stormwind, where you can ride... a motorcycle. And in the city, you can take quests from various expansions - for example, join the Dragonflight campaign to be flying on dragons epically within half an hour, just like in "Game of Thrones." It turns out to be the perfect start for newcomers - everything looks very epic, quite modern, and enticing - especially since both Stormwind and the Dragon Isles, despite the ancient engine, amaze with their scale and picturesqueness.

It's clear that the WoW engine is outdated, but the new zones impress with their detail and atmosphere, plus textures and effects are constantly being updated. And as a result, WoW's stylized graphics age slower than realistic ones. Many "photorealistic" MMOs from a decade ago now look worse than WoW. And Blizzard's cartoonish style still looks organic and pleasant. Plus, the game runs on practically a calculator - this isn't Cyberpunk 2077, where you need a graphics card that costs as much as a used car.

However, veterans and those who want to see everything as it was in the original can play the classic version with old graphics, without loading HD textures. In general, there are several game options now. The main version with The War Within offers all modern conveniences, the ability to fly on dragons (now called Skyriding), automatic group finders, and other benefits of civilization. Classic is for those who miss 2004. No concessions here: want to go to a dungeon? Run on foot across half the continent! Die? Run to your body as a ghost!

For hardcore gameplay lovers, there's Classic Hardcore, where the character is permanently deleted after death. Season of Discovery is classic with experimental mechanics. Something between classic and modern. The Plunderstorm mode turns WoW into a 60-player Battle Royale. Matches there last 10-15 minutes, with no leveling or equipment - everyone is equal. Finally, Legion Remix is ongoing - a seasonal event that allows you to go through the Legion expansion in an accelerated mode with new abilities. Among them is the ability to create a unique weapon and then level it up by feeding it enemies and unwanted items.

Of course, the game has problems. Some find the frantic pace uncomfortable, turning the game from an adventure into a race for survival. Veterans complain that the sense of community has disappeared, and if before everyone on the server knew each other, and guilds were like families, now everything is automated - people in groups often don't even say hello, let alone communicate.

But for many, the main problem is burnout. They say the game has turned into an endless cycle: do daily quests, farm reputation, run Mythic+ dungeons, collect equipment sets, and then a new patch comes out, and everything starts over. WoW has become more like a job than a game. But all of the above is, in principle, a problem and an accompanying evil of the entire genre. And if you focus on that, why even go into MMORPGs today?

In any case, World of Warcraft today is much closer and more accessible than it might seem. The subscription still costs $14.99 per month - the same as 20 years ago. Considering inflation, this means the game has actually become almost twice as cheap. For this money, you get access to all content - both Retail and Classic, and all modes. There's the WoW Token - they allow you to farm gold in the game and exchange it for game time. If you're a hardcore player, you can actually play for free. Although, farming gold in such quantities is again more like work than entertainment.

As we already said, you can play for free up to level 20 - this is enough to understand if it's for you or not. There are, however, a ton of restrictions - you can't join a guild, you can't trade, you can't write in general chat. But you can fly on dragons in the new zones, which is quite generous for a trial version.

However, newcomers and casuals should be prepared for information overload. Over 20 years, so much content, systems, mechanics, and lore have accumulated that your head might spin. But if you don't chase everything at once and play at your own pace, you'll definitely enjoy it. Especially since the expeditions in The War Within have changed everything. Finally, you can play at your own pace, get decent equipment, and not depend on raid schedules. Add to this the upcoming housing system, the battle royale in Plunderstorm, and other entertainments - it definitely won't be boring.

Well, and if you've played before and want to return, now is the time. The War Within is truly a good expansion that has brought back the spirit of old Warcraft. And there are even special guides for those who have been away for a long time.

Not many games can boast that they are older than some of their players. World of Warcraft is still more alive than many and isn't planning to give up. Yes, there are problems - burnout, loss of community spirit, frantic pace. But there are also pluses - a huge amount of content offering interesting things for every type of player, constant updates, and an adequate price. Moreover, Blizzard developers have learned to mix current content and mechanics so skillfully that the old game sometimes feels fresher than many new releases.

Zarium. February 2026