For WoW's Next Expansion, Blizzard Must Learn From Shadowlands' Mistakes
Since its launch in 2004, World of Warcraft has been the undisputed king of the MMORPG genre. Its influence on gaming can be seen everywhere, from newly released MMOs like Lost Ark to Bungie's popular Destiny franchise. But as the spirit of King Terenas Menethil II once told his son Arthas in one of WoW's most powerful story moments, «No king rules forever, my son.»
The popularity of WoW has waxed and waned dramatically over the years. That's only natural for a game that is now almost two decades old. Player numbers always go up with the release of a new expansion, only to go back down a few months later. While WoW's current player numbers are a far cry from the over 12 million active subscribers the game boasted back in 2008 during its Wrath of the Lich King expansion, there's long been the assumption that a significant number of players will always come back for a new expansion. Shadowlands, the game's most recent expansion, sold more than 3.7 million copies in its first day when it was released back in 2020, breaking a new day-one sales record for the game.
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Now Playing: World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Story Trailer
Flash forward to 2022, after the release of the final content patch for Shadowlands and what can only be described as a year of reckoning for Blizzard, and the assumption that players will always come back may no longer be true. Mired by ongoing sexual harassment and discrimination controversies, two wildly unpopular expansions in a row, and more competition in the MMO space than ever before, the
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