Blizzard Entertainment announced today that those who buy a BlizzCon 2018 Virtual Ticket will have access to a demo version of World of Warcraft Classic, which re-creates the popular World of Warcraft as it was before the release of any expansions.
BlizzCon 2018 takes place from November 2 to November 3 in Anaheim, California. The demo, which will include a Horde and Alliance starting area, will be playable for attendees. But those at home who buy the $50 Virtual Ticket will be able to download the demo, which they can then access until November 8 at approximately 10 a.m. Pacific. The Virtual Ticket also gives buyers access to streams of BlizzCon events and in-game items in titles like Overwatch and World of Warcraft.
World of Warcraft launched for PC in 2004. The MMO has changed a lot since then. Its most recent and seventh expansion, Battle for Azeroth, launched in August, and it’s showed that World of Warcraft can still be a big seller despite its age. But some fans are nostalgic for the older version of the game. Fans even created their own servers based on the earlier version of WoW, but Blizzard shut these down. At BlizzCon 2017, Blizzard announced that it was working on its own Classic WoW project.
Classic WoW gives Blizzard a way to monetize nostalgia. Battle for Azeroth has helped increase revenues made by the subscription-based game, but WoW Classic could help Blizzard double-dip with fans who want both the modern and original takes of World of Warcraft. It could also attract subscribers who dislike the current version of WoW and are only interested in Classic.
