World of Warcraft Turns 20 | News Update

World of Warcraft Turns 20 | News Update

Brief:

World of Warcraft (WoW) has been leading role in gaming world for 20 years. It created the way of how multiplayer games are played and influenced how businesses work online. Let's take a look at its legacy.

  1. The Evolution of Online Connectivity
  2. A Game-Changer in Business Models
  3. WoW's Cultural Impact
  4. The WoW Movie: A Surprising Take

The Evolution of Online Connectivity

Blizzard Entertainment first released World of Warcraft (WoW) in November 2004. The New York Times celebrated the anniversary by outlining the many ways we can still see the massively multiplayer online role-playing game’s influence 20 years later.

For one thing, while multiplayer games and early social networks such as MySpace already existed, WoW provided a real preview of a future where everyone would connect to friends and strangers online.

A Game-Changer in Business Models

The game made billions of dollars with a business model combining monthly subscriptions with in-game purchases (including for pets and animals that players could ride), becoming a massive cash cow for Blizzard and pointing the way to future internet business models.

WoW's Cultural Impact

The game also spawned immortal memes, attracted celebrity fans, and prompted epidemiologists to argue that an incident involving the uncontrolled spread of a fantasy disease could be studied for insights into real-world epidemics.

The WoW Movie: A Surprising Take

Also, for the record, I thought the movie wasn’t that bad.

For the full report by Techcrunch, you can read the original article here:

https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/17/world-of-warcraft-turns-20/