World of Warcraft Classic has been a delight for fans ever since it first launched back in 2019. The game has let players experience the earliest days of World of Warcraft in all their glory, and Blizzard has expanded the brand to the first two expansions. It has been a great nostalgia trip so far and is also the perfect way to kill some time in between Dragonflight updates. While this experience is very popular, its last days could also soon be upon it.
The entire concept of World of Warcraft Classic is built around a limited shelf life. Blizzard can only add so much to it, the player base will eventually fall off, the expansion re-releases will have to end, and World of Warcraft: Dragonflight will likely pull players away. It still has some life left, but Blizzard may have already taken the concept as far as it can. The Classic line may have to end with Wrath of the Lich King Classic, but it was a fantastic ride from start to finish if so.
Blizzard Can Only Take World of Warcraft Classic So Far
World of Warcraft Classic's entire premise is that players get to see a version of Azeroth before the events of Cataclysm. The world is unaltered by the major revamp, the vanilla talent system is still there, the game retains many classic MMO mechanics, and everything about it has stayed mostly unchanged.
The first version of Classic let them experience the game at its launch, Burning Crusade Classic let them see the game's first expansion, and Wrath of the Lich King Classic let them play through the second expansion as if it was launching today. It has been a fantastic nostalgia trip for fans of the franchise, but nostalgia can only get something so far.
Blizzard recently released Wrath of the Lich KingClassic phase three which added the Argent Tournament and Onyxia's Lair to the game. There are two more phases after that which should add exciting bits of content like Icecrown Citadel and the Ruby Sanctum. Once these content updates launch, Wrath of the Lich King Classic's major update cycle will end. Unless Blizzard starts adding a bunch of content that never appeared in the original expansion, the fun will have to come to an end.
After phase five launches, every single version of Classic will have all content the original games had. While Blizzard did introduce the Season of Mastery to World of Warcraft Classic to give players a reason to stick around, there is no major content in sight. Major content helps add to these games and make people want to come back, and players will turn to something else without it. That may not happen for a little while, but it will happen eventually.
If Blizzard wants to keep the Classic train going then the next expansion in line would be Cataclysm. That expansion was very controversial, and part of the reason why the Classic brand had to exist in the first place. The fanbase may not be overly excited to check that content out again, and the world revamp it brings with completely goes against the point of Classic. No announcement has been made yet, but this would be the likeliest next step.
The World of Warcraft Classic line has been a fun experience so far, but it will have to come to an end eventually. That end may not be tomorrow, but it likely looms on the horizon. Soon, there will not be a big reason for players to keep playing, and the next expansion does not seem suited for the Classic experience. Still, Blizzard can hopefully ease concerns at BlizzCon 2023.
World of Warcraft Classic is available now on PC.