World of Warcraft is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) that has taken the gaming world by storm. It was released on November 23, 2004, and sold a whopping 2.8 million copies within 24 hours! Five years later, they have 9 million subscribers paying an almost monthly fee to play this game. For those who don’t know, World of Warcraft is an online game where people can join up with other players through the internet to meet and play in one common world. Think of it as a virtual computerized society that you are part of. You create your own character or avatar with many options such as race, class, and skills that allow you to interact with others through conversations, battling monsters, trading items, and completing quests.
The game has received many awards since its release in 2004 including the Game Developers Choice Award for Excellence in Technology, Interactive Achievement Awards for Computer Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play and Outstanding Achievement in Animation, and is listed among Time Magazine’s 100 Best Video Games of All Time and USA Today’s Top 150 Best-Selling Games.
WoW, beat out Grand Theft Auto, The Sims, EverQuest, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater for these awards.
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WoW has not only made a huge impact on the gaming world but also the real-world market as well. According to this article by CNN Money, ” Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft is more than just a game. It’s also a virtual economy that’s estimated to be worth nearly $2 billion.” This game regularly outperforms movies, books, and music in terms of revenue.
There are 9 million people playing this game worldwide right now which means 9 million people are spending an average of about 23 dollars a month on the game. That is almost 700 million dollars per year going straight into the World of Warcraft market.
These numbers are staggering and show just how much this game has changed not only the gaming world but also our economy as well. It is evident that Warcraft has created a brand new culture surrounding its players, such as gaming conventions and even competing in gaming tournaments for large sums of prize money. As seen in the picture above, a couple of players dressed as their Warcraft characters to compete in a 2009 gaming tournament.
World of Warcraft has changed the way we play games and significantly influenced our economy. We think it is safe to say that World of Warcraft has not only created a generation of gamers, but also a generation of consumers who are willing to pay for more than just the game.
There are many online games out there today but none have had as much success for this long. This poses some interesting questions about society’s evolving relationship with technology, specifically how it is changing our lives by giving us a platform to interact, socialize, create things, and compete. It seems as though video gaming is taking its rightful place in our culture by becoming a serious business for people around the world. If all this creates an itch for WOW and you would like to level up fast maybe check out a boosting service like https://buy-boost.com.
Table of Contents
3 Ways World of Warcraft has to change the world.
Future of Gaming
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World of Warcraft has changed the future of gaming as we know it. It is one of the most popular and profitable games in history and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. It’s not just a game but also a virtual economy that’s estimated to be worth nearly $2 billion. This game regularly outperforms movies, books, and music in terms of revenue. This means technology has come so far since its creation that now we can create an entire world inside our computer screens for people to interact with each other and purchase things from one another all without ever leaving their seats.
Niche Market
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With over 9 million players worldwide, World of Warcraft has created a niche market for people who are into MMORPGs. A popular trend in the gaming community is to cosplay or dress up like your favorite character, which has become a large part of the overall experience at conventions and competitions. This also creates revenue for gaming companies because people are willing to spend money on anything related to their favorite game. However, it must be noted that not everyone likes WOW or even role-playing games in general.
As seen in this picture above, cosplaying as your favorite characters have helped create its own culture within gaming. This is evident by how widespread it has become and by what we see at conventions such as Comic-Con. By capitalizing on nerd culture as well as social stereotypes, many companies have made money because people are willing to pay for anything related to their favorite characters.
Social Stereotypes
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The success of WOW has led to the generation of other games, social stereotypes, and cosplaying. People who play these types of games are often seen as nerdy or weird by others which can be hard on younger players who might not fit in at school or with their friends because they enjoy video games that involve more than just shooting something or blowing things up. It is almost like a subculture within our society where people feel comfortable expressing themselves through what they wear and how they act while playing these games.
Conclusion
In conclusion, World of Warcraft changed the gaming world in many ways. It created a niche market for gamers who enjoy virtual role-playing games and helped create social stereotypes about people who play these types of games. In addition to this, it has influenced our economy by becoming one of the most profitable games ever made which has to lead to the creation of new business models that revolve around its consumers where they can interact with each other in a virtual space while buying and selling things from one another. Not only is it popular in terms of numbers but is also a large part of nerd culture through cosplaying at conventions such as Comic-Con and competing in gaming tournaments for prize money.
