World of Warcraft (WoW) is a 2004 video game created by Blizzard Entertainment for computers running Windows and macOS. It is a type of online game called a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), where many players can join together in a shared virtual world. The game is set in the Warcraft fantasy universe on a fictional planet called Azeroth, about four years after the events of the earlier game, 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 received eleven 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.

World of Warcraft was inspired by other MMORPGs, such as EverQuest. Players create a character and explore a large, open game world from a third-person or first-person perspective. They can fight monsters, complete tasks called quests, and interact with other players or non-player characters (NPCs). The game encourages teamwork for quests, dungeons, and battles between players (PvP), but it can also be played alone. Players gain experience points to level up their characters, earn better equipment by defeating enemies, and use in-game money to buy or sell items.

When it was first released in 2004, World of Warcraft became very popular and was the most successful MMORPG at the time. It reached a peak of 12 million players in 2010. By 2014, the game had over 100 million registered accounts, and by 2017, it had earned more than $9.23 billion in total revenue, making it one of the highest-selling video game series ever. Gaming experts have called it one of the greatest MMORPGs and 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 expansion content was also made available for the Classic version.

Gameplay

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

To begin 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 focus is on defeating monsters and completing quests. Player-versus-player (PvP) combat and roleplaying are optional.
• RP (Roleplay) – A realm where players act as their characters, similar to a "Normal" realm but with a stronger emphasis on roleplaying.

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 replaced by "War Mode," which lets players aged 20 and older choose whether to participate in PvP combat on any server by enabling War Mode in two capital cities.

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

To create a new character, players choose between two factions: the Alliance or the Horde. Pandaren characters, introduced in "Mists of Pandaria," do not pick a faction until completing their starting zone. Characters from opposing factions can team up for most challenges, such as raids and dungeons. As of patch 10.1, characters can also join guilds from the opposing faction. Players select a race (e.g., orcs or trolls for the Horde, humans or dwarves for the Alliance) and a class (e.g., mages, warriors, or priests). Most classes are limited to specific races.

As characters grow stronger, they gain new skills and abilities. Players can choose two primary professions, such as tailoring or mining, or focus on gathering resources. All characters can learn three secondary skills: archaeology, cooking, and fishing. Characters can join guilds, which provide features like chat channels, guild names, and access to a guild bank or repairs.

Many parts of the game involve completing quests. Quests are usually given by NPCs and reward players with experience points, items, or in-game money. Quests help characters learn new skills, explore new areas, and advance the game’s story. Quests are often linked in chains, where each quest is triggered by completing the previous one. Common tasks include killing creatures, gathering resources, finding hidden objects, speaking to NPCs, visiting locations, or delivering items.

While players can play alone, most challenging content requires teamwork. In groups, characters take specific roles based on their class. The game has a "rested bonus" system, which gives extra experience points after a player has been away from the game. 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 by returning to the death location. If a character is level 10 or higher and resurrects at a graveyard, their equipped items degrade and need repair. If the body is unreachable, a special NPC called a "spirit healer" can revive the character, but this causes further item damage 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 enable "War Mode" to make themselves attackable by the opposing faction. PvP combat can happen almost anywhere, except in starting zones, where players must activate a "PvP flag." On PvE servers, players can decide whether to fight others. 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, and players earn honor for killing opponents in battlegrounds.

World of Warcraft is set in the same universe as the Warcraft real-time strategy games, with a similar art style. The game includes fantasy, steampunk, and science fiction elements, such as gryphons, dragons, steam-powered machines, zombies, and alien worlds.

The game world is a 3D version of the Warcraft universe. Initially, players explored two continents: Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. Later expansions added new areas, including Outland, Draenor, Northrend, and Pandaria. As players explore, they uncover new regions and stories.

Plot

Thrall's Horde wanted to settle in Durotar. They invited the undead Forsaken to join the orcs, tauren, and trolls. At the same time, the dwarves, gnomes, and ancient night elves chose to support the Alliance, led by the human kingdom of Stormwind. After Stormwind's king, Varian Wrynn, disappeared without explanation, Highlord Bolvar Fordragon became Regent. However, his leadership was affected by the mind control of the black dragon Onyxia, who disguised herself as a human noblewoman. As heroes investigated 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 sent Ragnaros back to the Elemental Plane.

Deep inside Blackrock Mountain, the black dragon Nefarian performed strange experiments using the blood of other dragonflights. Wanting to take control of the area, he gathered the remaining Dark Horde, a group of corrupted orcs, trolls, and other races. These corrupted forces fought against Ragnaros and the Dark Iron dwarves for control of the mountain. Nefarian created twisted chromatic dragons and other strange creatures to build an army strong enough to rule Azeroth and continue the legacy of his famous father, Deathwing the Destroyer. Heroes from the Horde and Alliance defeated Nefarian.

Years ago, in the ruined temple of Atal'Hakkar, priests of the Blood God Hakkar the Soulflayer tried to summon 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 champions of the trolls' animal gods. The Soulflayer's influence was stopped when the Zandalari tribe brought heroes to invade Zul'Gurub.

The great desert fortress of Ahn'Qiraj, long closed behind the Scarab Wall, was home to the insectoid qiraji, a violent race that once attacked Kalimdor. However, a more dangerous force lived inside Ahn'Qiraj: the Old God C'Thun, an ancient evil that has spread darkness across Azeroth for many years. As C'Thun caused the qiraji to act in madness, both the Alliance and Horde prepared for a large battle. A group of Alliance and Horde soldiers, called the Might of Kalimdor, opened the gates of Ahn'Qiraj under the leadership of the orc Varok Saurfang. The heroes attacked the ruins and temples of Ahn'Qiraj and defeated C'Thun.

In his rush to spread the plague of undeath across Azeroth, the Lich King gave his powerful servant, the lich Kel'Thuzad, the flying citadel of Naxxramas as a base for the Scourge. Attacks from the Scarlet Crusade and Argent Dawn weakened Naxxramas's defenses, allowing heroes to attack and defeat Kel'Thuzad. However, a traitor in 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 began working on its next game. At first, this project was called Nomad, based on the tabletop role-playing game Necromunda, which was set in a post-apocalyptic world. During its first year of development, Nomad lacked a clear direction. At the same time, many Blizzard developers became fans of EverQuest, an MMORPG released in 1999 by Verant Interactive. Interest in Nomad declined as the company considered creating its own MMORPG based on the Warcraft series and improving areas they felt were not working well in EverQuest. In a vote, all but Duane Stinnett, the project lead for Nomad, supported shifting focus. By the end of 1999, work on Nomad stopped, and World of Warcraft was started instead.

World of Warcraft was first announced by Blizzard at the ECTS trade show in September 2001. Released in 2004, the game took about 4–5 years to develop, including extensive testing. The 3D graphics in World of Warcraft use elements from the special graphics system originally used in Warcraft III. The game was designed to allow players to explore freely and make their own choices. Quests are optional and were created to guide players, help characters grow, and spread players across different areas to avoid overcrowding. The game interface lets players change their character’s appearance and controls, and install add-ons or other modifications.

World of Warcraft runs on both Mac and Windows computers. Boxed copies of the game use a special type of CD that works on both systems, eliminating the need for separate Mac and Windows versions. The game allows all players to play together, no matter which operating system they use. Although there is no official version for other platforms, the game can be played on Linux and FreeBSD using tools like Wine and CrossOver. While Blizzard has not released a native Linux version, a report in 2011 suggested an internal Linux client might exist but is not released due to challenges with Linux software standards.

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 after the initial 30 days, players must buy additional time using a credit card or prepaid game card. The shortest time players can purchase is 30 days with a credit card or 60 days with a prepaid card. Players can also buy three or six months of gameplay at once for a 6–15% discount. In Australia, the United States, and many European countries, stores sell a trial version of World of Warcraft on DVD, which includes the game and 20 levels of gameplay. After reaching level 20, players must upgrade to a retail account by providing a valid credit card or buying a game card and a retail copy of the game.

In Brazil, World of Warcraft was released on December 6, 2011, through BattleNet. The first three expansions are available, 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, to play the game, players must buy time credits online. Two types of time credits are available: one based on actual minutes played and one based on days. Time can be purchased in multiples of 5 hours or 30 hours for the minute-based option, or in multiples of 7 days, 1 month, or 3 months for the day-based option. Since software packages are not required, all players can access expansion pack content on launch day.

When World of Warcraft first launched in China, players could buy hourly and daily tokens used to play at Internet cafés. The initial Chinese 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 that cover bare skeletons and turn dead character bodies into tidy 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 have rules against such elements, which appear in other games. NetEase took over licensing from The9 in 2009 and launched Wrath of the Lich King in 2010, nearly 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, followed by a livestream in June 2024 where Blizzard team members outlined the release of Wrath of the Lich King for World of Warcraft Classic and The War Within expansion for Chinese players.

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 version 1.8.3 update. The 2.1.0 update allowed players to skip using the launcher. Features of the launcher include news and updates for players, access to the game’s support website, access to the test version of the game for upcoming patches, updates to Warden, and updates to the game’s updater. The 3.0.8 update redesigned the launcher and let players change game settings directly from it. The launcher update from patch 4.0.1 allows players to play the game while non-essential files are downloaded, which requires a high-speed internet connection.

Patch 1.9.3 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; older versions of Mac OS X cannot run World of Warcraft version 1.9.3 or later. PowerPC Macs are no longer supported since version 4.0.1.

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

Starting with version 4.3, players could test an experimental 64-bit version of the game, which required manual

Reception

World of Warcraft received very good reviews when it first came out, after a long time of excitement before it was released. Even though the game uses ideas from the role-playing genre, it introduced new ways to make the game more fun. For example, when a character dies, players can quickly recover and continue playing, unlike in some older MMORPGs where dying had big consequences. Combat was also improved by reducing "downtime," or the time between battles. Players could return to fighting quickly because all character types could heal from damage. Reviewers said these changes made the game easier for casual players who play for short periods, while still offering deep gameplay for others. A feature called the "rested bonus" helped players gain experience faster, letting them catch up with friends who had played longer.

Quests were an important part of the game, often used to continue storylines or guide players through the world. Many quests were available in each area, and players enjoyed the rewards for completing them. The variety of quests helped players avoid repetitive tasks, but some quests required collecting items from creature corpses, which was unpopular because the chance of finding items was low. This made the quests feel repetitive. In areas with many new players, there were often not enough creatures to kill, or players had to wait their turn. Some critics said the lack of group quests made the game feel like it was made for solo play. Others said some group quests were hard for new players and took a long time to finish. A few quests had software problems when the game first came out.

Characters were well-designed, with each class being useful and interesting, and each race looking and feeling different. Players liked the way characters could develop through choices in talents and professions. However, some said there were not enough options for customizing a character's appearance, even though the character models were detailed.

The game world was praised for its visuals. Players could travel across continents without seeing loading screens, and the environment was described as "breathtaking." Each area had a unique look that blended smoothly with others. The game ran well on many computers, though some said the graphics were basic. Flying over the world was described as "very atmospheric." The user interface was simple and easy to use, with helpful tooltips for new players.

The game's audio was well-received, especially the background music. Music in different areas helped players feel more immersed in the fantasy world and made the game more fun to play again. The sounds and voices of characters and NPCs added personality to the game.

World of Warcraft won many awards from critics, including Editor's Choice awards. It was also named the best game in the role-playing and MMORPG genres. The game's graphics and music were praised, and it won awards for its cartoonish style and sound design. It was also named the Best Mac OS X Entertainment Product at the 2005 Apple Design Awards. Computer Games Magazine called it the best computer game of 2004 and gave it awards for art direction, music, and interface.

World of Warcraft won several awards at the 2005 Spike TV Video Game Awards, including Best PC Game, Best Multiplayer Game, Best RPG, and Most Addictive Game. It also won the "Massively Multiplayer/Persistent World Game of the Year" award at the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. In 2008, it was honored at the Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for advancing MMORPGs. GameSpot named it the best massively multiplayer game of 2004, and Game Informer ranked it 11th on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time." In 2015, it 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 ($68.1 million) by August 2006. It had more than 10 million subscribers worldwide by January 2008, with over 2 million in Europe, 2.5 million in North America, and 5.5 million in Asia. At its peak in 2010, the game had 12 million subscribers. By November 2014, it had over 10 million active subscribers. In 2014, Blizzard announced that 100 million accounts had been created for the game. By 2015, subscriptions had dropped to 5.6 million, the lowest since 2005.

In China, World of Warcraft was shut down in 2009, which could have affected Activision Blizzard's earnings. In 2008, the game had 62% of the MMORPG subscription market. It has 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 StarCraft II.

Security concerns

In September 2006, fake websites that looked like official World of Warcraft game advice pages were discovered. These websites contained harmful software called malware. Computers that had security weaknesses could be infected through web browsers, which would download a program that sent account information back to the attackers. Blizzard, the company that makes World of Warcraft, reported that their support teams received many requests from users affected by the problem. Some users said that phone support was temporarily unavailable because of the high number of calls.

In April 2007, attackers used new methods involving animated cursors on websites to spread malware. A security company called Symantec reported that a stolen World of Warcraft account was worth about $10 on the black market, compared to $6 to $12 for a stolen computer (as of March 2007). In February 2008, fake emails were sent to users, asking them to confirm their account details on a fake version of the game’s login page. In June 2008, Blizzard introduced the Blizzard Authenticator, a security tool that works as a hardware device or mobile app. This tool provides two-factor authentication by generating a temporary password that users enter when logging in. The password is only valid for a short time, making it harder for hackers to steal login details.

Blizzard uses a system called Warden on the Windows version of the game to detect third-party programs, such as software used for cheating. Warden analyzes other programs running on players’ computers and sends some information back to Blizzard. This practice raised concerns because it resembles how spyware works, even though Blizzard claims it is used to protect the game. For example, Warden collects the titles of all open windows on a player’s computer while the game is running. Some gamers supported Warden, saying it helped reduce cheating, while others worried about privacy. Blizzard’s Terms of Agreement (TOA) explained the use of Warden.

Warden was mentioned in March 2008 during a legal case against MDY Industries. The lawsuit, filed in Arizona federal court, also named Michael Donnelly, the creator of MMO Glider, a program that automatically performs tasks in the game. Blizzard argued that Glider violated its copyright and license agreement, harming the game experience for other players. Donnelly claimed he sold 100,000 copies of the $25 software.

In July 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 by Blizzard). However, fans of Blizzard’s games expressed concerns about this feature. On July 9, 2010, Blizzard canceled the Real ID integration with its official forums after receiving feedback.

Community and study of player interaction

World of Warcraft players engage in the game, discuss on Blizzard’s forums, and join the virtual community by creating fan art or making stories similar to comic strips.

In January 2006, Blizzard faced criticism after banning guilds from advertising groups that supported LGBTQ+ rights. This happened after some players were accused of harassment for promoting a gay-straight alliance. Later, Blizzard changed its decision and stopped warning players who supported LGBTQ+ friendly guilds.

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

World of Warcraft has been studied by academics because of its popularity and long history. Early research focused on how players work together, especially in groups called guilds. Scholars from fields like game studies, anthropology, psychology, and communications studied the game. A 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 online games, companies sell virtual gold and services in World of Warcraft. This practice, called gold farming, caused problems when U.S. players competed with Chinese players who farmed gold for sale. The game had no translation tools for chat, so players who spoke different languages rarely communicated. Media scholar Lisa Nakamura noted that gold farming and certain play styles were often linked to Chinese players, leading to unfair stereotypes.

After Blizzard offered free trial accounts, players saw more spam from bots advertising services. Studies found that spam was more common on European servers, where gold was 14 times more expensive than on U.S. servers.

In patch 2.1, Blizzard added tools to reduce spam, such as limiting private messages and allowing players to 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 to advertise services. In February 2008, the company agreed to stop using the game for ads. In June 2007, a player named Antonio Hernandez filed a lawsuit against IGE for disrupting the game’s intended use.

As players advance in World of Warcraft, some rewards are tied to their characters and cannot be traded. This led to a market for trading accounts with powerful characters. The highest recorded trade was £5,000 in September 2007 for a character with rare items. Blizzard banned the account five days later.

Buying or selling gold in the game caused controversy. In 2008, Blizzard reported that most gold sold came from hacked accounts. Players who paid for leveling services often found their accounts stolen. In 2015, Blizzard allowed players to sell in-game gold for real money by offering tokens that could be used in the game.

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 2016, another pet, Mischief, raised $2.5 million for the same cause. In 2017, a pet named Shadow the fox raised money for the Red Cross to help with disasters.

The Corrupted Blood plague was an event that spread across servers. It began in Zul’Gurub, a dungeon where players fought a boss that gave them a disease called Corrupted Blood. The disease spread quickly to other players and eventually infected major cities. Low-level players died quickly from the disease. Blizzard fixed the problem by limiting the plague to the dungeon.

The Corrupted Blood event was similar to real-world disease outbreaks. Scientists are studying how games like World of Warcraft can help model how diseases spread in real life. Players’ reactions to the plague helped researchers understand human behavior during outbreaks.

Legacy

World of Warcraft changed how mass multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) were made. While some of its ideas were not completely new, they worked together to create a model that focused more on a theme park style than a realistic simulation. The game had a mix of serious stories and well-developed characters, but its main goal was to entertain. It used completing quests to help players gain experience, making gameplay feel like a list of tasks and encouraging players to move around instead of staying in one place. The game used separate areas, called instanced dungeons, where groups could play without others interrupting them. These areas had different purposes, such as places for group challenges, large challenges, and leveling up. World of Warcraft’s original talent system, which let players choose upgrades, was later used in other games, like Star Wars: The Old Republic. The game also organized "raid" activities, where players needed to work together with specific strategies. These strategies led to new features being added to the game over time.

Although not the first MMORPG to keep players busy for hundreds of hours, World of Warcraft was the most successful one at the time. In 2019, Vice magazine wrote that many people knew someone who said they were "addicted" to the game. For some players, the game became a major part of their lives, taking priority over basic needs and relationships. The game’s many quests gave some players a sense of purpose or a way to cope with feelings of emptiness, even though spending so much time on the game did not always improve their real-life 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 running Breitbart News and joining the Trump campaign, Steve Bannon found a group of supporters among World of Warcraft players. He worked with a company that employed "gold farmers" who sold in-game currency for real money, introducing him to a group of players he described as "rootless, white males" with "monster power." He later helped build Breitbart into a far-right news and entertainment website by hiring Milo Yiannopoulos to reach disaffected gamers.

Vitalik Buterin, who later helped create the cryptocurrency Ethereum, was inspired to work on decentralized technology after a 2010 game update changed his character’s preferred spell. Requests from players also led Microsoft to change how hotkeys work in its Windows operating system.

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. One example is the Emmy Award-winning South Park episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft." The game has also been used to advertise products like Toyota trucks.

In late 2007, television commercials for the game featured 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, and more were released in 2008 and 2011, featuring Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Van Zandt, and Chuck Norris.

World of Warcraft has inspired three board games: World of Warcraft: The Board Game, 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 building block toys based on the game. In 2014, Hearthstone, a free-to-play digital card game, was released, using classes similar to those in World of Warcraft.

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 online battle arena game. Players can control over 35 characters from the Warcraft universe, and the game includes a battleground named Alterac Pass. In 2018, Warcraft-themed skins were added for Heroes of the Storm. Soundtracks from World of Warcraft, such as "Obsidian Sanctum" and "Stormwind theme," are used in the game.

To celebrate Hearthstone’s release, Blizzard gave players a special mount called Hearthsteed. Players can earn the mount by winning three games in Arena or Play mode. 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 earn a battle pet in World of Warcraft, and players who reach level 100 in World of Warcraft earn a mount in Heroes of the Storm. Starting in 2016, players who level a character to 20 in World of Warcraft, even with the free starter edition, earn an alternate hero in Hearthstone.

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