World of Warcraft (WoW) is a 2004 massive online role-playing game (MMORPG) created by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows and macOS computers. It is set in the Warcraft fantasy world on a fictional planet called Azeroth, about four years after the events in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The game was first announced in 2001 and released on November 23, 2004, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft series. Since its release, World of Warcraft has had 11 major expansion packs: The Burning Crusade (2007), Wrath of the Lich King (2008), Cataclysm (2010), Mists of Pandaria (2012), Warlords of Draenor (2014), Legion (2016), Battle for Azeroth (2018), Shadowlands (2020), Dragonflight (2022), The War Within (2024), and Midnight (2026). An additional expansion called The Last Titan was announced in 2023.

Inspired by other MMORPGs like EverQuest, World of Warcraft lets players create a character and explore an open world in first or third-person view. Players can fight monsters, complete tasks, and interact with other players or computer-controlled characters. The game encourages teamwork for quests, dungeons, and battles, but players can also play alone. Progressing in the game involves earning experience points to level up, defeating enemies to get better equipment, and using in-game money to buy or sell items.

World of Warcraft was very successful when it first came out in 2004 and quickly became the most popular MMORPG. It had 12 million players in 2010 and over 100 million registered accounts by 2014. By 2017, the game had earned more than $9.23 billion, making it one of the highest-selling video game series ever. Some game reporters have called it the best MMORPG and one of the greatest video games of all time. The game has continued to receive updates and new content for over 20 years. In 2019, a version of the game called World of Warcraft Classic was released, allowing players to experience the original game before any expansions were added. Later, some expansions were also made available for Classic.

Gameplay

In World of Warcraft, players control a character avatar in a game world, either from a third-person or first-person view. They explore the landscape, fight monsters, complete quests, and interact with non-player characters (NPCs) or other players. Like other MMORPGs, players must pay a fee to play, using a credit or debit card, prepaid game cards, or in-game tokens. Players without a subscription can use a trial account, which allows characters to reach level 20 but limits some features.

To start playing, players choose a server, called a "realm" in the game. Each realm is a separate copy of the game world and falls into one of two categories:

• Normal – A standard realm where the main focus is defeating monsters and completing quests. Player-versus-player (PvP) combat and roleplaying are optional.
• RP (Roleplay) – Similar to a "Normal" realm, but players are encouraged to roleplay as their characters.

Before the "Battle for Azeroth" expansion, "Normal" and "RP" servers were split into PvE (player versus environment) and PvP (player versus player) categories. This system was later removed with the addition of "War Mode," which lets players choose whether to participate in PvP combat on any server.

Realms are also grouped by language, with in-game support for that language. Players can create new characters on any realm within their region, and existing characters can be moved between realms for a fee.

When creating a character, players choose between two factions: the Alliance or the Horde. Pandaren, added later, do not pick a faction until after completing their starting zone. Characters from opposing factions can team up for most challenges, such as raids and dungeons. Since patch 10.1, characters can also join guilds from the opposite faction. Players select a race (like orcs or trolls for the Horde, or humans or dwarves for the Alliance) and a class (such as mages, warriors, or priests). Most classes are limited to specific races.

As characters grow stronger, they gain new abilities and skills. Players can choose two main professions, such as tailoring or mining, and learn three secondary skills: archaeology, cooking, and fishing. Characters can join guilds, which provide features like a chat channel, a guild name, and access to a guild bank.

Much of the game involves completing quests. These tasks are given by NPCs and reward players with experience points, items, or in-game money. Quests help characters learn new skills, access new areas, and progress through the story. Quests are often linked, forming a chain where each quest leads to the next. Common quest tasks include killing creatures, gathering resources, finding objects, speaking to NPCs, or delivering items.

Players can play alone, but many challenges require teamwork. Groups often work together to complete difficult content, with each class having specific roles. The game has a "rested bonus" system, which gives extra experience points after a player takes a break. If a character dies, it becomes a ghost (or a wisp for Night Elves) near a graveyard. Other players or the character itself can resurrect it. If the character is above level 10 and resurrects at a graveyard, their equipment may degrade, requiring money and a specialist NPC to repair. If the body is unreachable, a "spirit healer" NPC can be used, but this causes further degradation and a temporary weakness called "resurrection sickness."

World of Warcraft includes many ways to play against other players. On PvE servers, players can choose to toggle "War Mode," making them attackable by the opposite faction. PvP combat can happen almost anywhere, except starting zones, where players must enable the "PvP flag." Special areas, like battlegrounds, allow free-for-all combat. Battlegrounds have set objectives, such as capturing flags or defeating enemies, and reward players with tokens and honor points used to buy gear. Winning gives more rewards than losing.

World of Warcraft shares the same universe as the Warcraft real-time strategy games and uses similar art styles. The game includes fantasy, steampunk, and science fiction elements, such as gryphons, dragons, steam-powered machines, and alien worlds.

The game world is a 3D version of the Warcraft universe. It started with two continents, Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, and expanded to include Outland, Draenor, Northrend, and Pandaria. As players explore, they discover new areas and stories.

Plot

Thrall's Horde aimed to settle in Durotar and grew stronger by inviting the undead Forsaken to join the orcs, tauren, and trolls. At the same time, the dwarves, gnomes, and night elves pledged their support to the Alliance, led by the human kingdom of Stormwind. After Stormwind's king, Varian Wrynn, disappeared, Highlord Bolvar Fordragon became Regent. However, Bolvar's leadership was disrupted because the black dragon Onyxia controlled his thoughts by pretending to be a human noblewoman. While heroes worked to stop Onyxia's actions, the ancient elemental lord Ragnaros returned to threaten both the Horde and Alliance. Heroes from the Horde and Alliance defeated Onyxia and forced Ragnaros to return to the Elemental Plane.

Inside Blackrock Mountain, the black dragon Nefarian performed cruel experiments using the blood of other dragons. Seeking to take control of the mountain, Nefarian gathered the remaining Dark Horde, a group of orcs, trolls, and other races that had embraced the violent ways of the old Horde. These corrupted forces fought against Ragnaros and the Dark Iron dwarves for control of the mountain. Nefarian created monstrous chromatic dragons and other strange creatures to build an army strong enough to rule Azeroth and continue the legacy of his father, Deathwing the Destroyer. Heroes from the Horde and Alliance defeated Nefarian.

Long ago, in the ruined temple of Atal'Hakkar, priests of the Blood God Hakkar the Soulflayer tried to bring the god's powerful spirit into the world. However, the Atal'ai priesthood learned that Hakkar could only be summoned in the ancient capital of the Gurubashi tribe, Zul'Gurub. Reborn in this jungle fortress, Hakkar took control of the Gurubashi tribe and the trolls' champions who worshiped powerful animal gods. The Zandalari tribe stopped Hakkar's influence by sending heroes to attack Zul'Gurub.

The desert fortress of Ahn'Qiraj, sealed by the Scarab Wall, was home to the qiraji, a fierce race that once attacked Kalimdor. However, an even greater threat existed within Ahn'Qiraj: the Old God C'Thun, a powerful evil that had haunted Azeroth for ages. C'Thun caused the qiraji to become violent, leading both the Alliance and Horde to prepare for war. A combined force of Alliance and Horde soldiers, led by the orc Varok Saurfang, attacked Ahn'Qiraj. The heroes destroyed the fortress and defeated C'Thun.

In his rush to spread the plague of undeath across Azeroth, the Lich King gave his servant, the lich Kel'Thuzad, the flying fortress Naxxramas to use as a base for the Scourge. Attacks by the Scarlet Crusade and Argent Dawn weakened Naxxramas's defenses, allowing heroes to invade and defeat Kel'Thuzad. However, a traitor from the Argent Dawn took Kel'Thuzad's cursed remains and fled to Northrend, where the lich could be brought back to life.

Development

After releasing StarCraft in 1998, Blizzard started working on its next game. At first, this project was called Nomad, which was based on a tabletop role-playing game called Necromunda. The game was set in a post-apocalyptic world. During its first year of development, Nomad lacked a clear direction. At that time, many Blizzard developers had become fans of EverQuest, an MMORPG released in 1999 by Verant Interactive. Interest in Nomad decreased as Blizzard discussed creating their own MMORPG based on the Warcraft series. They wanted to improve on parts of EverQuest that did not work well. In a vote, all developers except Duane Stinnett, the lead of Nomad, supported shifting focus to the Warcraft-based MMORPG. Work on Nomad stopped by the end of 1999 as World of Warcraft began development.

World of Warcraft was first announced by Blizzard at the ECTS trade show in September 2001. The game was released in 2004 and took about 4–5 years to develop, including testing. The 3D graphics in World of Warcraft use parts of the special graphics system from Warcraft III. The game was designed to let players explore freely. Quests are not required but help guide players, develop characters, and spread them across different areas to avoid overcrowding. Players can customize their appearance, controls, and install add-ons or other modifications.

World of Warcraft runs on both Mac and Windows computers. Boxed versions of the game use a special CD that works for both operating systems, avoiding the need for separate Mac and Windows versions. Players can join the game regardless of their computer type. While there is no official version for other platforms, the game can be played on Linux and FreeBSD using software like Wine and CrossOver. Blizzard has not released or announced a native Linux version. In 2011, a journalist reported that an internal Linux version might exist but is not released due to differences in Linux systems.

In the United States, Canada, and Europe, Blizzard sells World of Warcraft through retail software packages. These packages include 30 days of free gameplay. To continue playing, players must buy additional time using a credit card or prepaid card. The shortest time to buy is 30 days with a credit card or 60 days with a prepaid card. Players can also buy 3 or 6 months of gameplay at a discount. In some regions, stores sell a trial version of the game on DVD, which includes 20 levels of gameplay. After that, players must upgrade to a retail account by providing a credit card or buying a game card and a retail copy.

In Brazil, World of Warcraft was released on December 6, 2011, through BattleNet. The first three expansions are fully translated into Brazilian Portuguese, including voice acting.

In South Korea, players do not need a software package or CD key to activate their accounts. However, they must buy time credits online to play. Time credits can be purchased in two ways: one based on the number of minutes available, and another based on days. For the minute-based option, time can be bought in 5-hour or 30-hour blocks. For the day-based option, time can be bought in 7-day, 1-month, or 3-month blocks. Since software packages are not required, all players can access expansion content on launch day.

When World of Warcraft first launched in China, players could buy hourly and daily tokens used to play at Internet cafes. The initial release was very popular because many Chinese players had already played the game on North American and European servers.

The Chinese versions of the game include changes, such as adding flesh to skeleton models and turning dead character bodies into neat graves. These changes were made by the regional licensee, The9, to promote a "healthy and harmonious online game environment." Despite some belief that skeletons must be censored in China, the Chinese government does not restrict such content, as other games also include similar elements. NetEase took over the license from The9 in 2009 and launched the Wrath of the Lich King expansion in 2010, two years after its Western release. Due to a contract dispute, these servers were closed in 2023. In 2024, NetEase announced that World of Warcraft would return to China in the summer of 2024, including the Wrath of the Lich King expansion for World of Warcraft Classic and The War Within expansion for the main game.

The World of Warcraft launcher, also called the "Blizzard Launcher," is a program that helps players start the game. It was first included with the 1.8.3 patch. The 2.1.0 patch allowed players to skip the launcher. Features include news updates, access to support websites, test versions of the game, and updates to the game’s security system and updater. The 3.0.8 patch redesigned the launcher and added the ability to change game settings from the launcher. The 4.0.1 patch let players play the game while non-essential files are downloaded, requiring a high-speed internet connection.

The 1.9.3 patch added support for Intel-powered Macs, making World of Warcraft a universal application. This changed the minimum supported Mac OS X version to 10.3.9. PowerPC Macs are no longer supported since version 4.0.1.

As new content is added, official system requirements may change. In version 1.12.0, the Windows requirement for RAM increased from 256 MB to 512 MB. Support for Windows 98 was dropped, though the game continued to run on it until version 2.2.3. Before Mists of Pandaria in 2012, World of Warcraft stopped supporting Windows 2000, followed by Windows XP and Vista in 2017, and all 32-bit systems.

Starting with version 4.3, players could try an experimental 64-bit version of the game, which required manual installation. Since version 5.0, the 64-bit client is automatically installed and used by default.

Since World IPv6 Day, the game’s client and most servers support IPv6.

Eleven expansions have been released: The Burning Crusade (January 2007), Wrath of the Lich King (November 2008), Cataclysm (December 2010), Mists of Pandaria (September 2012), Warlords of Draenor (November 2014), Legion (August 2016), Battle for Azeroth (August 2018), Shadowlands (November 2020), Dragonflight (October 2022), The War Within (June 2024), and World of Warcraft Classic: Wrath of the Lich King (Summer 2024).

Reception

World of Warcraft received very good reviews when it was first released, after many people were excited about it before it came out. The game uses ideas from the role-playing genre, but it made changes that helped players spend less time waiting between actions. For example, if a player's character died in the game, they could quickly recover and keep playing, unlike some older games where dying had big consequences. Combat was also improved by letting all character types heal quickly, so players could return to fighting without long breaks. These changes made the game easier for people who play for short periods of time, while still offering deep gameplay for all players. A feature called the "rested bonus" allowed players to gain experience faster after taking breaks, helping them catch up with friends.

Quests were an important part of the game, often used to tell stories or guide players through the world. Many quests were available in each area, and players liked the rewards they received. The variety of quests helped players avoid repetitive tasks, but some quests required collecting items from dead creatures, which was frustrating because the items were hard to find. In busy areas, players sometimes had to wait for turns to complete quests, and some quests did not require teamwork, making the game feel more suited for solo play. Some dungeon quests were difficult for new players and took a long time to finish. A few quests had problems when the game first released, making them impossible to complete.

Characters in the game were well-designed, with each class having unique abilities and each race looking and feeling different. Players liked how they could choose their character's skills and professions. However, some felt there were not enough options for customizing a character's appearance, even though the character models were detailed.

The game world was praised for being visually impressive. Players could move across large areas without seeing loading screens, and the environment was described as "breathtaking." Each area had a unique look that connected smoothly to the next. The game ran well on many computers, though some noted the graphics were simple and that a lighting effect could make things look blurry. Flying over the world was described as "very atmospheric," and the user interface was simple with helpful tooltips.

The game's music was well-received, with different songs for different areas that helped players feel immersed in the world. Sound effects and character voices added personality to the game.

World of Warcraft won many awards, including Editor's Choice awards and being named the best game in its genre. It was praised for its graphics, music, and interface. It also won awards for being the best Mac OS X entertainment product and was named the best computer game of 2004.

The game was recognized at several award events, winning titles like Best PC Game, Best Multiplayer Game, and Most Addictive Game. It was also honored for advancing MMORPG games and was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame.

World of Warcraft was the best-selling PC game in 2005 and 2006. In the United States, it sold 1.4 million copies by August 2006. By 2008, it had over 10 million subscribers worldwide, with more than 2 million in Europe, 2.5 million in North America, and 5.5 million in Asia. At its peak in 2010, it had 12 million subscribers. As of 2014, it had over 10 million active subscribers. By 2015, subscriptions had dropped to 5.6 million.

In China, the game was shut down briefly in 2009, which could have affected the company's profits. The game earned $9.23 billion in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing video games ever. In 2012, Blizzard started tournaments for World of Warcraft and other games.

Security concerns

In September 2006, fake websites that looked like official World of Warcraft game advice pages were discovered. These sites contained harmful software that could infect computers through web browsers. Once infected, the software would send user account information back to the attackers. Blizzard's support teams received many requests for help during this time, as many users were affected. Some reports said that phone support was temporarily unavailable due to the large number of calls.

In April 2007, attacks changed to use animated cursors on multiple websites. A security research group called Symantec reported that a stolen World of Warcraft account was worth about US$10 on the black market, compared to US$6 to US$12 for a stolen computer (as of March 2007). In February 2008, fake emails were sent to users, asking them to verify their account details on a fake version of the World of Warcraft login page. In June 2008, Blizzard introduced the Blizzard Authenticator, a tool that provides extra security. This tool can be used as a physical device or a mobile app. It generates a short, one-time password that users must enter when logging in, along with their regular password. This added step helps protect against harmful software that records keystrokes.

Blizzard uses a system called Warden in the Windows version of the game to detect third-party programs, such as software that automatically plays the game. This system has caused controversy because it checks the files and programs running on users' computers, similar to how antivirus software works. However, unlike most antivirus programs, Warden sends some collected information back to Blizzard, which some people say is similar to spyware. For example, Warden records the titles of all open windows on a user's computer while the game is running. Some players supported Warden if it helped reduce cheating, while others raised privacy concerns. Blizzard included details about Warden in the game's Terms of Agreement.

The existence of Warden was revealed in March 2008 during a legal case against MDY Industries. The lawsuit, filed in Arizona federal court, also included Michael Donnelly, the creator of MMO Glider, a program that automatically performs tasks in the game. Blizzard claimed that Glider violated its copyright and license agreement, arguing that it harmed the game experience for other players by disrupting fairness, social interactions, and the in-game economy. Donnelly said he sold 100,000 copies of the $25 software.

On July 6, 2010, Blizzard announced that user accounts on its game forums would display real names linked to each account. This change followed an agreement with Facebook to allow users to share their real identities (called Real ID) with friends. However, this feature caused concern among fans of Blizzard's games.

On July 9, 2010, Blizzard announced that the Real ID feature for the official forums would be canceled in response to these concerns.

Community and study of player interaction

In addition to playing the game and discussing it on forums created by Blizzard, World of Warcraft players often join the virtual community by creating fan art or telling stories in comic strip style.

In January 2006, Blizzard faced criticism after banning guilds from advertising about sexual orientation preferences. This happened after some players were accused of harassment for supporting a group that promoted a gay-straight alliance. Later, Blizzard changed its decision and stopped issuing warnings to players who promoted groups friendly to the LGBT community.

On October 7, 2010, World of Warcraft had over 12 million players. By May 2011, the number of players had dropped by 10%, from 11.4 million to 10.3 million. Blizzard’s CEO, Mike Morhaime, said this decrease might be because of fewer players in Eastern countries. In 2012, a senior producer, John Lagrave, told Eurogamer that the drop might also be linked to the release of BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic.

World of Warcraft has been studied by many scholars because of its popularity and long history. Early studies focused on how players work together, especially in groups called guilds. Researchers from fields like game studies, anthropology, psychology, and communications led these studies. One well-known study is Bonnie Nardi’s My Life as a Night Elf Priest. Over time, researchers from other areas, such as economics, design, and philosophy, also began studying the game.

Like other MMORPGs, companies have appeared that sell virtual gold and in-game items for real money. This practice, called gold farming, caused problems when U.S. players competed with Chinese players who were paid to collect in-game resources to sell online. The game had no translation tools for in-game chat, so English-speaking and non-English-speaking players rarely communicated. Media scholar Lisa Nakamura wrote that gold farming and certain play styles were sometimes linked to Chinese players, leading to unfair stereotypes.

After Blizzard introduced free trial accounts, players noticed more spam from bots advertising services. A study found that spam was more common on European servers, where gold cost 14 times more than on U.S. servers.

In patch 2.1, Blizzard added new tools to reduce spam, such as limiting private messages and letting players report spam. Trial accounts could not use public chat, trade items, or access the Auction House or mail system.

In May 2007, Blizzard sued a company called in Game Dollar LLC for using the game’s chat to advertise services. In February 2008, the company agreed to stop using the game’s chat for advertising. In June 2007, a player named Antonio Hernandez filed a lawsuit against IGE for disrupting the game’s intended use.

As players in World of Warcraft complete difficult challenges, some rewards are tied to their characters and cannot be traded. This created a market for selling accounts with strong characters. The highest recorded sale was for £5,000 in September 2007. The character had rare items that few players owned. However, Blizzard banned the account five days after the sale.

Buying or selling gold in the game has caused controversy. In February 2008, Blizzard warned that many gold sales came from hacked accounts. Players who paid for leveling services often found their accounts hacked later, with items stolen and sold for virtual gold. These hacks also caused game performance issues. In April 2015, Blizzard allowed players to sell in-game gold for real money by offering a $20 token that could be used to buy gold on the Auction House.

In December 2015, Blizzard sold a battle pet named Brightpaw for $10, with all money going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This raised over $1.7 million. In December 2016, another pet, Mischief, raised over $2.5 million for the same charity. In September 2017, a pet named Shadow the fox raised money for the Red Cross to help with disaster relief.

The Corrupted Blood plague was one of the first events to affect all servers. Patch 1.7 introduced Zul’Gurub, a 20-player dungeon where players fought trolls. The final boss gave players a debuff called "Corrupted Blood," which hurt their health over time. The disease spread to other players simply by being near infected players. Hunter pets or warlock minions carried the disease out of the dungeon.

Within hours, the plague spread to major cities because of large groups of players. Low-level players died quickly from the disease. Blizzard fixed the problem by limiting the plague to the dungeon.

The Corrupted Blood plague closely resembled real-world disease outbreaks. Scientists are now studying how MMORPGs and other large systems can model human behavior during epidemics. Players’ reactions to the plague helped researchers better understand how diseases might spread in real life.

Legacy

World of Warcraft changed the way many online role-playing games (MMORPGs) were designed. While some of its ideas were not completely new, the way they were combined created a model for the genre that focused more on fun and variety than on real-life imitation. The game had a rich story and well-developed characters, but its main goal was to entertain. Players earned experience points by completing tasks, which made the game feel like a list of things to do, encouraging players to move around the game world rather than staying in one place. The use of instanced dungeons allowed groups of players to complete challenges together without meeting other players, helping to separate areas of the game for different types of activities, such as group challenges, large-scale battles, and leveling up. The game’s talent system, which let players choose upgrades, was later used in other games like Star Wars: The Old Republic. World of Warcraft also helped shape the "raid" activity, where players had to work together using specific strategies. Over time, these strategies became part of the game itself.

Although not the first MMORPG to keep players engaged for hundreds of hours, World of Warcraft was the most popular one during its time. A 2019 article by Vice said, "Most people know someone who said they were 'addicted' to World of Warcraft." For some players, the game became a major part of their lives, sometimes taking priority over basic needs and relationships. The game’s many tasks gave some players a sense of purpose or a way to cope with life challenges, even though spending so much time playing did not always improve their happiness. The game inspired a support group called Wowaholics Anonymous, which helps players who want to stop playing. For others, the game helped them find real-life relationships.

In 2008, the first restaurant themed around World of Warcraft opened in Beijing. In 2011, an amusement park called World Joyland Play Valley, inspired by the game, opened in China.

Before working for Breitbart News and joining the Trump campaign and administration, Steve Bannon connected with World of Warcraft players through his work with Internet Gaming Entertainment, a company that employed "gold farmers" who sold in-game currency for real money. This experience introduced him to a group of players he described as "rootless, white males" with "monster power" before the rise of Reddit. He later used this connection to build Breitbart into a far-right news and entertainment website, partly by hiring Milo Yiannopoulos to reach disaffected gamers.

Vitalik Buterin, who later co-founded the cryptocurrency Ethereum, became interested in decentralized technologies after a 2010 update in World of Warcraft changed his character’s preferred spell. Requests from players also influenced Microsoft to change how hotkeys work in Windows.

To celebrate the game’s 20th anniversary in 2024, Blizzard partnered with the University of Washington, temporarily renaming the university’s football team "University of Warcraft."

World of Warcraft has inspired artists to create parodies and acknowledge its influence in popular culture. For example, the Emmy Award-winning South Park episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" satirized the game. The game has also been used to advertise unrelated products, such as Toyota trucks.

In late 2007, television commercials for the game began airing, featuring celebrities like Mr. T, William Shatner, and Verne Troyer discussing the strengths of their in-game characters. Similar ads were made in Spain and France, featuring Guillermo Toledo and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Additional ads in 2008 and 2011 included Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Van Zandt, and Chuck Norris, who played on the "Chuck Norris facts" internet trend.

World of Warcraft has inspired three board games: World of Warcraft: The Board Game (with expansions), World of Warcraft: The Adventure Game, and a version of Trivial Pursuit. There is also a trading card game and a collectible miniatures game, both now produced by Cryptozoic Entertainment. In 2012, Megabloks released a line of building block toys based on the game. In 2014, Hearthstone, a free-to-play digital card game based on the Warcraft universe, was released.

In 2007, DC Comics published the first issue of a World of Warcraft comic under their WildStorm imprint.

In 2015, Blizzard released Heroes of the Storm, a crossover multiplayer game where players can control characters from the Warcraft universe, such as Arthas and Sylvanas. The game includes a battleground called Alterac Pass and has introduced Warcraft-themed items in events like "Echoes of Alterac." Soundtracks from World of Warcraft, such as "Obsidian Sanctum" and "Stormwind theme," are used in the game.

To promote Hearthstone, Blizzard gave players a special mount called Hearthsteed, which could be earned by winning games in certain modes. This promotion encouraged World of Warcraft players to try Hearthstone and marked the first major crossover between Blizzard games.

Players who buy certain editions of Warlords of Draenor receive an Orc-themed card back in Hearthstone. Heroes of the Storm players who reach level 20 get a Grave Golem battle pet in World of Warcraft, and World of Warcraft players who reach level 100 get an Ironside Dire Wolf mount in Heroes of the Storm. Starting in March 2016, players who level a character to 20 in World of Warcraft (using the free starter edition) earned the alternate Paladin hero Lady Liadrin in Hearthstone.

Players who buy certain editions of Overwatch receive a Baby Winston battle pet in World of Warcraft.