While it isn’t exactly a great time to be a World of Warcraft fan, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Microsoft is purchasing Activision Blizzard, and that includes World of Warcraft along with it. While it hasn’t been confirmed yet, there’s a good chance that World of Warcraft could come to Xbox Game Pass given how Microsoft usually handles first-party games.
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How World of Warcraft Benefits From Xbox Game Pass
Changes aren’t always well received in video game communities, but Microsoft’s intervention could be just what World of Warcraft needs, possibly even saving what can be seen as a dying player base. Bringing WoW to Xbox Game Pass would broaden each server’s population by a significant degree, assuming its addition to the Game Pass roster makes it free-to-play for Game Pass subscribers.
For many, World of Warcraft’s monthly subscription fee is the hang-up from trying it in the first place, as there are plenty of other premium free-to-play options on the market. Just look at MMOs like Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Elder Scrolls Online, which both receive content updates to this day despite making their monthly subscriptions optional. Removing that barrier would bring more players to World of Warcraft, and as many avid fans know, it’s difficult to get WoW’s claws unhooked once they’ve dug themselves in.
How Xbox Game Pass Benefits From World of Warcraft
On the flip side, it’s an equally exciting proposition for Xbox Game Pass. Game Pass doesn’t have any issues with its public perception right now, and it never will if it keeps up its current trajectory. However, anything that’s perceived to add value to the service is a good thing, as it only stands to bring in additional subscribers.
At this point, it’s clear that Xbox’s current goal is to grow its Game Pass subscriber base as much as it possibly can, making solid foundation of subscribers for its future pursuits. The more subscribers the service draws in, the more games Xbox can add and studios it can acquire. Each acquisition is a textbook investment, World of Warcraft just so happens to be a large one.
How Xbox Can Help Shape World of Warcraft’s Future
Of course, there are fans that are worried about how Microsoft and Xbox might mess with World of Warcraft. What’s important to note, however, is that things are currently trending in a direction that fans seem to abhor, with criticisms of how World of Warcraft is being handled flooding the internet. It seems unlikely that Microsoft will make the situation even worse.
Microsoft has a solid track record of giving its studios creative autonomy, and while many of the visionaries behind World of Warcraft are no longer at the studio, a hands-off approach that puts World of Warcraft directly into the hands of Blizzard developers might put the narrative and gameplay changes right back on track.
For now, the best route for fans to follow is that of cautious optimism. Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition won’t close until next year, and then there will likely still be a transitionary period for the studio. If history repeats itself, Activision Blizzard’s games, including World of Warcraft, will be added to Xbox Game Pass shortly after the deal is done. A player spike is all but guaranteed, but deeper changes may take some time yet.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC.
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