Microsoft’s recent purchase of Activision Blizzard has massive implications, not the least of which being that the most popular MMORPG of all time,World of Warcraft,is now in the hands of Microsoft. There are innumerable possibilities for what Microsoft could do with its newfound IPs, but almost immediately upon the announcement of the deal, one of the most popular discussion topics has been the potential forWorld of Warcraftto finally make its way to consoles.
While it’s fully possible that Microsoft could leaveWorld of Warcraftlargely untouched following the acquisition, bold ideas likebringing World of Warcraft to Xbox Game Passcould completely revitalize the game. If that or something similar were to happen, a move like bringing the franchise to the Xbox Series X/S suddenly doesn’t seem too farfetched. In fact, withWorld of Warcraft’s current state of affairs, now is the perfect time for decisive action.
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World of Warcraft: Moving To Console Would Massively Boost Active Players
It’s been a popular trend for the past decade or so to suggest thatWorld of Warcraftis dead or dying — it isn’t. Still, figures for the game suggest that it is on a slow and steady decline in terms of active players. To make matters worse, even the most devout players are seemingly losing interest rather rapidly, as evidenced by the lack ofparticipation inWorld of Warcraft’s endgame raids. Luckily, with this latest move by Microsoft,World of Warcraftnow has an ace up its sleeve with a move to consoles, and the best part is that it has worked for major MMORPGs before.
Looking at the PlayStation 5 release ofFinal Fantasy 14offers a fairly compelling argument forWorld of Warcraftto come to consoles. While Steam charts don’t provide a figure for the entire player base, they give a general sense of the population of the game. In 2020,Final Fantasy 14peaked each month at around 25,000 players. Since the PlayStation 5 version was released in May 2021,Final Fantasy 14has averaged that former monthly peak every single day and hit a peak of nearly 100,000 players in December 2021. Recently,Square Enix had to shut down salesof the game because it was too popular.
It’s the Perfect Time to Reinvent World of Warcraft
Even ifWorld of Warcraft’s population count was on the rise and player engagement was as fervent as ever, there would still be a solid argument for a console release. In the wake of theActivision Blizzard controversy,World of Warcraft’s name has taken a serious hit. When paired with the tepid response to the Shadowlands expansion and other lingering in-game issues,World of Warcraftmay not be at an all-time low population-wise, but its reputation is getting dangerously close. A console release would be a savvy business decision, but it’s even more important as a way to move the dark cloud that is currently hanging over the game.
A move to consoles would also have an unprecedented effect on the player base. WhileWorld of Warcraft Classicand the retail game’s expansions do manage to bring in new players, they are perhaps even more effective at capturing returning players, whereas an Xbox Series X/S release could reach an entirely new base of console-only players to the game, floodingWorld of Warcraftwith those that would be experiencing the MMORPG for the first time. In a sense, then, a console release might be the best option for Microsoft and Activision Blizzard to turn the clock back and restoreWorld of Warcraftto its glory days.
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