WoW is better but has fewer players – how can that be?

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There is an apparent paradox in World of Warcraft. The number of players has dropped – but the game has still gotten better.

For some sardonic critics it seems clear that World of Warcraft has had quite a flop with Dragonflight. After all, Blizzard admitted in the financial report that fewer players bought Dragonflight than Shadowlands. Shadowlands, on the other hand, was generally considered one of the worst expansions ever. Conversely, that must mean that Dragonflight is even worse, right?

What sounds like the most obvious answer at first glance, however, bites with the experience and the reports of those who actually still play World of Warcraft. Because those who got involved with Dragonflight seem to be having a lot of fun at the moment. Dragonflight started with a solid amount of endgame content, making you want other classes thanks to the talent system.

New features like the trading post are convincing and there is generally a pretty good atmosphere in the game. Many active players even call Dragonflight the best expansion for many, many years.

At the same time, Dragonflight seems to be better at retaining the smaller number of players in the long term. The ongoing subscriptions are more than other extensions.

In other words, Dragonflight has fewer players than Shadowlands, but the fewer players have more fun.

So how can that be? Can Dragonflight really be that good when player counts are smaller? Is that a contradiction?

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Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands burned people out

There isn’t “one reason” why Dragonflight has attracted fewer players than Shadowlands. There are several reasons at play here:

  • Shadowlands has driven many World of Warcraft players away – and probably permanently. The mandatory grind was too exhausting, the content aridity too big. Some drew a permanent line under the WoW career.
  • The discrimination and sexism scandal at Activision Blizzard also caused a rethink. For some, that was the “cup full” and they’ve generally sworn off Blizzard.
  • Dragonflight has no outstanding core feature and a rather “niche” theme. Dragons have mostly been treated marginally and much of their story has only been in the books so far.

    • These reasons all meant that Dragonflight simply did not reach everyone who would otherwise be caught up in the “hype of a new addon”. It is easy to assume that after almost 19 years, World of Warcraft has now lost some players in the long term who otherwise went “through thick and thin” with their favorite game. After all, the MMORPG market is big and there are solid alternatives like Final Fantasy XIV or ESO.

    Also that players have less and less time for MMORPGs, play into that. Other MMORPGs recognized this earlier than WoW.

    What’s next for Dragonflight?

    Blizzard should be aware that World of Warcraft has to prove itself again. The “unshakeable trust” that players had in Blizzard has long since been used up. WoW is at a time when it needs to prove it can deliver again. At least the plan for 2023 looks good. 6 patches in a year is more than WoW normally gets in 2-3 years.

    However, the traction of a “new” extension is missing at this time, because Dragonflight is already on the market. So World of Warcraft needs to get the remaining players to spread the word in order to lure new and former heroes to Azeroth. Because when a friend tells you that WoW is now “really good” again, that carries a lot more weight than when a development team says it that has repeatedly disappointed in recent years.

    World of Warcraft is currently much better than it was in Shadowlands. It’s a pity that fewer players noticed this, but on the other hand, unfortunately, one thing is beyond doubt: deserved, through years full of mistakes.

    Dragonflight could be the turning point of WoW.

    The fact that WoW is better and still has fewer players is not a contradiction. It is the logical consequence of the decisions of the last few years and the first step towards improvement.

    It is unlikely that WoW will ever be able to reach the player numbers of Wrath of the Lich King again – that should simply not be realistic, if only because of the massive competition. But World of Warcraft seems to be able to significantly increase its player numbers again, at least at the moment, if the developers stay the course and give the fans what they want.

    Or how do you see the whole topic?

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