World of Warcraft: Forever brings back more lapsed players than any WoW launch before it

Blizzard’s bet on a rebuilt version of original Azeroth is paying off. World of Warcraft: Forever has had the biggest launch in the game’s history by peak concurrent players, and no WoW launch has ever brought back more returning players, the company says.

Blizzard shared both records on its official Warcraft account three days after Forever went live on November 4, but gave no player counts. Executive producer Holly Longdale added on social media that Forever also drew the most new players of any WoW launch in 15 years, as GamesRadar reports.

Forever is a third, permanent version of the game that sits next to modern WoW and Classic. Its story takes place after Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom and before Molten Core, the level cap stays at 60, and more than 1,000 new quests are spread across the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. New and reworked zones include Mount Hyjal, Shen’dralas, the Riverglades and Zephras Isle.

Zephras Isle is where the new Skyborne race starts out. Players pick a faction at character creation: Horde Windshapers become Shamans, while the Alliance-aligned High-Order Skyborne become Mages. A record crowd of returning players fits a version built on the Azeroth many of them left years ago.

The endgame opens on December 9, when level 60 characters get three raids: Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia’s Lair. How many people are actually playing, Blizzard has not said.

Reported by Warcraft on X, Blizzard News, GamesRadar. Compiled with AI tools.