When one thinks of a massively multiplayer online game,World of Warcraftis often the first thing that comes to mind – and for good reason. Since its release on May 14, 2025, Blizzard’s titanic MMORPG has dominated the market, and through its 10 expansions, has delivered consistent content every year. Though many games have tried to dethrone it,World of Warcraftis still the undeniable king of the MMORPG genre.
During the last two decades,World of Warcrafthas rippled beyond Azeroth. From the infamousSouth ParkEpisode and Jamie Lee Curtis officiating her daughter’s wedding dressed as Jaina Proudmoore, to the study of the Blood Plague incident by epidemiologists and the evocation ofWoW’s iconic Leeroy Jenkins meme in the US House of Representatives, the impact ofWorld of Warcrafton the zeitgeist is irrefutable. However, were it not for its rampant success as an MMO, it never would have entered pop culture in the first place.
World of Warcraft Became the Mold for the MMO Genre
MMORPGs Before and After World of Warcraft
World of Warcraftwas notthe first MMORPG ever made.RuneScape,Final Fantasy 11,EVE Online,MapleStory,Star Wars Galaxies, and twoLineageandEverQuestgames are only a handful of the dozens of titles released beforeWoW. Many of these games are still active in one way or another, but none of them have quite reached the levels of successWorld of Warcrafthas.
The term “MMORPG” was coined by Richard Garriott, the creator of the 1997 classicUltima Online,seven years beforeWoW’s release.
This was becauseWorld of Warcraftcodified what being an MMORPG truly was. World PvP, factions, instanced dungeons, customizable avatars, mounts, and other RPG elements found inWoWwere not new, but between the innovations it made upon these systems, and the history it built upon from10 years ofWarcraftRTS games,World of Warcraftquickly became not only the most popular MMORPG, but one of the most successful video games of all time.
In this way,World of Warcraftsolidified itself as the king of MMOs – though its reign was far from undisputed. In the years that followed its ascension, rising stars in the genre would be referred to by the community as “WoWKillers.”
2005
Active, maintenance mode since the sequel’s release in 2012
2007
Active, last expansion in 2021
2008
Shut down in 2013
2009
Active, last expansion in 2016
2010
Active after the 2013 reboot, now WoW’s top competitor
2011
Active, last expansion in 2017
Active, last expansion in 2022
2012
Active, last expansion in 2024
PC servers shut down in 2022, still playable on console
2013
2014
Shut down in 2024 ahead of in-development sequel
Shut down in 2018
2021
Active as New World: Aeternum
Of course, none of these titles would ever succeed in killingWoW; though games likeGuild Wars 2,The Elder Scrolls Online, andThe Old Republicall found success and boast healthy communities to this day, onlyFinal Fantasy 14was able to topWorld of Warcraft’s average player count, albeit only for a short time.
Final Fantasy 14temporarily surged ahead ofWoWin popularity during the critically-acclaimed MMO’sShadowbringersexpansion – which happened to coincide withWoW’s unpopularShadowlandsexpansion and the controversial Blizzard lawsuits in 2021.World of Warcrafthas since reclaimed the top spot after the success ofDragonflightandThe War Within.
In truth, the only thing that can truly killWorld of WarcraftisWorld of Warcraftitself. As demonstrated by high points likeWrath of the Lich King, the launch ofWoW Classic, and the comeback started inDragonflight, and by the low points ofWarlords of Draenor,Battle for Azeroth, andShadowlands, few things have affectedWorld of Warcraft’s player count as much as its own content.
Competition has fueled innovation withinWorld of Warcraft, but no game has come close to killing it – nor is one likely to do so in the future. In fact, by inspiring Blizzard to implement quality-of-life features already found in its competitors, such as theplayer housing system coming toWorld of Warcraftfor theMidnightexpansion, it is more likely that “WoWKillers” have helped the MMO grow in the same way it has influenced them by shaping the genre as a whole.
World of Warcraft’s Past, Present, and Future
The World of Warcraft That Could Have Been
That said,World of Warcraftwas almost something much different than what fans got. According to early promotional material featuring Orcs and Humans playing together, characters were originally able to gain reputation with any faction – even those on the same side. WhileWorld of Warcraftwould finally get cross-faction play over 17 years later, the feature could have been a part of the base game in another life.
What’s more,according to formerWorld of Warcraft3D level designer Johnathan Staats, Ogres were originally supposed to be one of the first four Horde races, and Pandaren were going to be on the Alliance. Though the latter eventually made it to the game as a neutral race, the Ogres were replaced by Trolls at the eleventh hour, and have yet to become playable.
Rather thanThe Burning Crusade, the first expansion was initially supposed to be a South Seas adventure featuring Nazjatar – though it pivoted away from the idea due to technical constraints involving water, later revisiting some of these ideas inBattle for Azeroth. Between this, early versions of the Emerald Dream and the Shadowlands, andcut content fromWorld of Warcraftexpansions likeWarlords of Draenor,World of Warcraft’s winding path could have led somewhere quite different. Then again, theWoWof today is nearly unrecognizable to the version 20 years ago; and one can only imagine what it may look like in another two decades.
What World of Warcraft Could Become
Now,World of Warcraftstands at the dawn of a new era. Chris Metzen, one of the minds that madeWarcraft 3andWoWwhat they are today, has returned to Blizzard as the executive creative director of the franchise. The Worldsoul Saga –World of Warcraft’s first true multi-expansion narrative– is off to a strong start with a faster-than-ever development cycle, having received an overall positive reception.
World of Warcraft Subscription and Revenue Facts
World of Warcraftis nearly old enough to legally drink in the US – indeed, children born to couples who met inWoWare getting old enough to start their own journeys in Azeroth. It has been a cultural staple for so long that it is hard to imagine a world withoutWorld of Warcraft,but luckily, it doesn’t seem like that will happen any time soon.
World of Warcraft
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World of Warcraft is an incredibly successful MMORPG that has been going strong for almost two decades. It’s one of the highest-grossing franchises in history and is widely considered the most popular MMORPG ever made.
