Blizzard says World of Warcraft: Forever has delivered the biggest launch in World of Warcraft history by peak concurrent players, according to a post on the official Warcraft social media channels. The company also says the November 4 launch brought back the highest number of returning players the series has ever recorded.
"Congratulations everyone, you made HISTORY!" the post reads. Blizzard did not publish actual player figures, as it no longer releases player numbers.
WoW: Forever Beats Wrath of the Lich King and WoW Classic
The claim puts WoW: Forever ahead of earlier peaks for the franchise, including Wrath of the Lich King, which marked the game's previous height almost two decades ago. Other records include Cataclysm, which sold more than three million copies in its first 24 hours, and Shadowlands, which sold almost four million copies on day one. WoW Classic drew over 1.1 million viewers on Twitch, and demand to log in caused heavy service disruptions.
WoW: Forever avoided a repeat of that. Access to the beta required the paid Skyborne Pack, and the beta still produced almost nine million characters, long queues, and server issues. Blizzard adjusted for the expected player numbers, and the November 4 launch ran smoothly by comparison.
WoW: Forever reworks the original vision for World of Warcraft. The game uses an alternative timeline set about a year before the original base game, and it adds:
- one thousand new quests and new zones
- a new playable race, the Skyborne elves, plus new race and class combinations
- new talents and items that change builds, including a sword that lets Mages fight in melee
- rare items hidden as loot from every raid boss
The game is currently available on PC and through cloud streaming services such as NVIDIA GeForce Now. A dedicated team runs WoW: Forever separately from the team behind the retail version of World of Warcraft.
Free Launch Item Available Until November 12
Blizzard is giving WoW: Forever players a launch item at no cost. The Pouch of Violet Dust turns campfire flames purple and extends the duration of all campfire buffs from one hour to two hours.
- Log in to World of Warcraft: Forever on PC before November 12.
- Claim the free Pouch of Violet Dust.
- Use it at a campfire to double the duration of campfire buffs while leveling solo or in a group.
The item is free only until November 12. Players who skip the claim window lose access to the offer.
Blizzard has not shared subscriber totals or concurrent player counts for WoW: Forever, so the size of the record cannot be compared directly with Wrath of the Lich King or WoW Classic.
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