World of Warcraft: Shadowlandshas been out for a year now, and with its anniversary, many players are looking back to the tumultuous year Blizzard has experienced, both in and out of game. Bellular, independent game developer andWorld of WarcraftandFinal Fantasycontent creator, broke down the metrics of how many people have been playing endgame content inWoWrecently and found some trends that could spell doom for the MMO giant.
The first raid inShadowlands, Castle Nathria, actually had more people clear its first boss than any other raid since theLegionexpansion in 2016. However, over the course ofWorld of WarcraftPatch 9.0’s extended run, less than half of these players cleared the Heroic raid in its entirety.
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Meanwhile, the Sanctum of Domination raid, which launched in early July, has had an even worse turnout. Less than half as many players have started the Heroic raid, and less than half of them have cleared it, with lower clear numbers than any in the last three expansion cycles. While this number could still rise before the next andfinal raid tier ofShadowlandsreleases withEternity’s End, it will be unlikely to change this data significantly.
The “Ahead of the Curve” achievement inWorld of Warcraftis given to any player who clears the entirety of a raid before a new one is released in subsequent patches. It serves as an adequate measurement tool when applied toWoW’sHeroic raids, which act as the middle difficulty between LFR and Mythic difficulties. InLegionandBattle for Azeroth, an average of 57% of guilds who participate in Heroic raids acquire the “Ahead of the Curve” achievement. InShadowlands, only about 40% have it.
Though raid difficulty certainly affects these numbers, there are other factors at play.Shadowlandshas been awash with myriad troubles since its launch, from delayed release schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic to baffling systems and story decisions. To make matters worse, Activision Blizzard has been under fire due to allegations of sexual harasment and discrimination all the way to the top, withCEO Bobby Kotick recently being revealed as complicit.
It isn’t hard to see why players have grown disillusioned withWorld of Warcraft. Some players have left to boycott the company for real life issues, others for its poor support and game systems. Bellular went on to examine other aspects ofWoWtoo, like Mythic dungeon clears and subscription numbers, all of which came to the same conclusion:World of Warcraftis in trouble.
Though Blizzard has taken steps to begin listening to its community and employees, like theformation of theWoWCommunity Counciland efforts to remove inappropriate content in-game, every step forward is met with more steps back. Unless the company can follow through on its promises and cut away the corruption among its leadership,World of Warcraftmay continue to die a slow death.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlandsis available on PC.Eternity’s Endis currently in development.
