Category: World of Warcraft News

Blizzard has published a new World of Warcraft video called “Surviving 7.1 – Return to Karazhan that gives a brief preview of the upcoming 5-player Karazhan dungeon, the new mini-raid, and the extended Suramar storyline. Check it out and get ready for October 25th.

The World of Warcraft community site has been updated with a fairly lengthy post about changes coming to the PvP rewards system with the launch of v7.1 later this month. The post indicates that the team has heard player objections to the less-than-satisfying PvP rewards currently being handed out and have outlined several ways this will be changing come v7.1.

WoWhead has posted a new preview video for the World of Warcraft: Legion mini-raid, Trial of Valor, on November 8th. The voice-over for the video does contain minor spoilers so consider yourself warned, but if you’d like to see the layout of the raid, it’s a fantastic look ahead. Let us know what you think in the comments.

During a special World of Warcraft live stream event held earlier today, new Game Director Ion Hazzikostas announced that the first big content expansion to Legion, Return to Karazhan, will be released on October 25th. This includes the new Karazhan dungeon instance and more.

The World of Warcraft community site has been updated with a new post to announce the Great Collegiate Dungeon Race. Four players per team will be racing through three Mythic +6 dungeons using their preferred classes with a predetermined skill template, artifact level and gear. Teams will have three days to score their best times in each that will determine placement in the tournament brackets where participants will compete for a share of $20,000 in scholarship funds.

Tom Chilton has published a lengthy letter on the World of Warcraft community forum to let players know that he is moving on from his position as Game Director to a new project “just down the hall” at Blizzard. He names Ion Hazzikostas as his replacement and that “WoW will be in great hands with Ion at the helm”.

The World of Warcraft team has some good news for Legion players who love to have as many alts as possible. While faction reputation will not become account-wide, a pair of very welcome changes will be heading into the game with the 7.1 update. Most notably, upon hitting 110, players will unlock world quests without the need to have attained ‘friendly’ status with each faction. This kicks in once a single character on an account has completed these objectives.

According to a Polish interview with PIXEL magazine, Blizzard’s Tom Chilton has stated that World of Warcraft currently has 10.1M subscribers and that the team is hopeful that the number will grow to 12M to rival Overwatch.

UPDATE: According to GamesBeat.com, the statement of 10.1M subscribers is a misquote or a misunderstanding on the part of the journalist”. EARLIER: A Polish interview with PIXEL magazine, Blizzard’s Tom Chilton has stated that World of Warcraft currently has 10.1M subscribers and that the team is hopeful that the number will grow to 12M to rival Overwatch.

NetEase and Blizzard have shifted the revenue model for World of Warcraft in China. Up to the shift, Chinese players paid in hour-by-hour increments. With the launch of the Legion expansion, Chinese players are now required to pay a monthly subscription up front in order to play. NetEase brought in $37M in August compared to only $8M in July, presumably as a result of the change in revenue generation.