‘World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth’ is the game’s fastest-selling expansion

By Gabe Gurwin Published August 23, 2018

Cinematic: “Old Soldier”

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth is an enormous expansion for Blizzard’s long-running online game, and the excitement surrounding all-out war between the Horde and the Alliance appears to be translating to big sales. The company has announced that Battle for Azeroth is the best-selling expansion in the game’s history.

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In just one day, World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth managed to sell more than 3.4 million copies, narrowly edging out 2016’s Legion expansion, which sold 3.3 million copies in its first day. Battle for Azeroth has been on sale for just over a week as of now, so we’ll likely see those numbers continue to grow.

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World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth has a lower barrier to entry than previous expansions, as Blizzard recently abandoned its “battle chests” in favor of making all previous expansions and the base game free. This means that in order to enjoy Battle for Azeroth, all you have to do is purchase the expansion and a subscription to World of Warcraft. As six expansions had already released prior to the most recent one, it certainly makes entering the game for the first time easier.

Story quests and new areas are available in Battle for Azeroth right now, and additional content will be coming soon in free updates. The upcoming content includes the Uldir raid, which launches on September 4, as well as the cooperative Warfront mode, which will arrive “in the coming weeks.”

World of Warcraft has a reputation for being an all-consuming game, and players have shown their dedication since Battle for Azeroth launched. One player going by the name “Gingi” managed to hit the expansion’s level 120 cap just four hours after the expansion launched. We’re not sure why anyone would want to speed through a game like that, but we aren’t here to judge.

If you’re curious about whether you should pick up World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, stay tuned for our full review. We’ll also have guides available to help you through the game, just in case you find its new features to be overwhelming.

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth is available now on PC and Mac.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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Everything announced at Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct

warcraft 30th anniversary direct everything announced wow the war within undermined location screenshots 10

Blizzard Entertainment put on a big virtual event on Wednesday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Warcraft series in lieu of an in-person convention this year. The stream not only looked back at the history of the franchise in the form of a concert with a full orchestra but it also announced a remaster of Warcraft RTS, the first-ever Warcraft title, and updates for World of Warcraft Classic. Of course, modern World of Warcraft will also be getting some big updates, including the addition of a feature that players have asked about for decades.

It was a surprisingly packed showcase (you forget sometimes just how many Warcraft games there are), so here's a rundown of everything you might've missed.

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Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct: How to watch and what to expect

Key art for World of Warcraft: The War Within.

Blizzard Entertainment has had an eventful year. Following Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the studio has seen the successful releases of World of Warcraft: The War Within and Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred but also had to deal with mass layoffs and the release of Jason Schreier's revealing book Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment. To cap off this hectic year, and in lieu of its traditional BlizzCon event, Blizzard Entertainment is holding a Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct livestream this week.

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans is the game that put Blizzard on the map, and it was first released on November 15, 1994. Thirty years later, the franchise has expanded with games like World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Warcraft Rumble. Now, Blizzard is going to celebrate them all during a single livestream. It's something that Warcraft fans will certainly want to tune into. For those interested, I've rounded up everything you need to know about how to watch the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct and what you should expect from it.
When is the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct?
The Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct will begin at 10 a.m. PT on November 13. Blizzard has not said how long the Direct will last, but has confirmed that a World of Warcraft: 20 Years of Music concert will air right after the show concludes.
How to watch the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct
The first showcase of its kind, the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct will air on World of Warcraft's YouTube channel and the Warcraft Twitch and TikTok channels. As soon as the YouTube premiere for the event goes live, I'll embed it above so you can watch the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct on this page. On Twitch, Blizzard also plans to give away in-game rewards for World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Warcraft Rumble to viewers.

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Battle Aces was born from a rejected StarCraft 2 expansion pitch

Art from the reveal trailer for Battle Aces.

The fast-paced real-time strategy (RTS) game Battle Aces was inspired by an idea that game director David Kim had while working on StarCraft 2 at Blizzard Entertainment.

“Why can’t there be an RTS game that gets rid of all these tedious clicks and focuses on the fun factors?” Kim recalled thinking. “There was a point during Legacy of the Void’s development where we seriously considered cleaning up all of those things and made an RTS game that’s really focused on the fun. But the conclusion was that we should not switch up what StarCraft 2 is on the last expansion of the game.”