Will WoW eventually..end?

[Bryan Adam]

Everything ends, so yes.
But not for at least a couple years.

I am curious as how you came to conclusion that WoW has a remaining lifespan of 2 years. This is a game that Blizzard wouldn't give up so lightly because it's their main milking cow generator.

[Darkeon]

Problem with Blizzard storytelling is that we are constantly punching down bigger and bigger cosmic threats. Burning Legion? Destroyed (until they bring back Sargeras and split his horns to open portal to the Void Lord realm or something). Old Gods? Gone from Azeroth. In next expansion we will kill Death itself, after which there is left only Void and Light.

I feel that, even with those three single main "themes" of possible baddies left, with an appropriate squeeze, they can come up with a healthy amount of expansions.

What can't happen, however, is another BfA style of expansion, where we consume an unfathomable amount of Lore Content and themes with, in my own personal opinion, very little reward and accomplishment out of it.

[Paperfox]

Yes, but not by lore shortage.

While the quality of said lore is up for debate, it is a silly concept to think that a game which was made based on lore created on the spot can suddenly no longer make up new lore on the spot.

This.

If subs drop and stay below a certain threshold for a while, then they'll decide to cease active development and the game will go into caretaker mode. Then after a certain time, a decision to build, continue or cease will be made. If the decision is made to cease, then that, as they say, will be that.

[Mellrod]

WoW will end, but not when all of it's "mysteries" are explored. Lore in this universe isn't finite, entirely linear, or based solely on things established in WC1-WC3 era. As long as Blizzard is the still the author of the story, they'll just create new lore & new stories and put twists on old ones, which they've been doing a lot since Cataclysm at least. If they were willing to kill off a villain with such massive buildup and future story potential in a single patch/raid (as questionable as that is), then it's obvious they still have other material planned.

WoW isn't going to end because 'no subs' like people imagine, because subs wont just drop to 0 like they're resources in the game. There's always going to be a sizable core playerbase, so the more likely thing to happen is that WoW ends when Blizzard says it does. i.e, when they decide to move on to a new project. When they decide to give the universe a big finale story, even if they could keep going, and put all their work in a new spiritual/direct successor MMO to WoW. They might keep the servers up and occasionally throw WoW a minor content bone, not make new content at all, or they could pull the plug entirely.

TL;DR - WoW ends when Blizzard says it does. It will probably be when a new replacement for WoW goes underway long before sub counts drop to 0 (b/c a playerbase for a game this size doesn't work like that. Contrary to popular belief, players dont just stop existing).

[Kokolums]

Most video games fade away slowly and never give an ending.

Look at Diablo 3:

1. They relased Reaper of Souls xpac
2. A second xpac was anticipated by fans
3. Instead Blizzard just sat in silence for a long time, then released the necro DLC
4. People began to wonder if that was it for D3.
5. Blizzard sat in silence for a long time again, then years went by and Blizzard quietly moved D3 to the classic games team.

There was no fanfare. They didn't blast trumpets and throw confetti. They didn't say "D3 development is over! Thanks everyone!". There was no definitive "end". They just abandoned it.

That's how WoW will end as well, most likely.

They might prepare for it by creating some "infinite playstyle" game moeds before abandoning WoW. That might very well be what Torghast is for. They might be afraid SL is the final xpac. Activision might pull the plug. So they made Torghast as evergreen content before it happens.

[Orange Joe]

Yes, when wow 2 comes out

wow 2 was TBC
wow 3 was WOTLK
wow 4 was CATA

and so on.

[Weeps]

Yes, sooner than later. It's time for a new mmo and it'll happen with either AR or VR.

[glowpipe]

Yes, everything ends, Even wolves. But not books. Not words, words do not end

In all seriousness, Wow will end the moment it is no longer profitable. Which may not happen for a long time yet, but i don't see expansions will keep coming for that much longer

[Aleax]

There's always been multiple editions, though. I don't see this as "incoming greed".
Heck, you get blizzard balance bucks if you buy the collectors edition.

iirc there's always been 2 editions not 3. If anything Blizzard are offering 3 editions to align themselves on your wallet.

[Kokolums]

Wow is a fantastically profitable game. Yes, we don't know the numbers, but remember, it cost $70 million to develop all of vanilla (that is public record). If they have 2 million subscribers they're making around 200 million a year. They're gonna keep it going for a long time.

That's not how it works.

Sub counts can move up or down by a 1-2 million pretty quick. If subs are at 2 million, it could move to 500k or lower in a few months. It becomes difficult to plan ahead when subs are at 2 million.

If Blizzard screws up again with another Blitzchung scandal, they could lose 2 million subs in a snap.

[Sunnydruid]

Isn't runescape still around? EQ is on it's 21st year.

Safe to say this game is going to be around for a long time. I can definitely see WoW hitting a 25 year mark easy, can also see a 30 year anniversary too. Anything after that i'd imagine is shaky. Unless we get another huge boost in players.

[Speedlance]

It has a good 10 years still. It will always have an audience. Games that are far older still have a solid core. I think restarting the cycle with classic 2.0 with massively better graphics and better mechanical bosses is also something that can happen.

[Nachtigal]

That's not how it works.

Sub counts can move up or down by a 1-2 million pretty quick. If subs are at 2 million, it could move to 500k or lower in a few months. It becomes difficult to plan ahead when subs are at 2 million.

If Blizzard screws up again with another Blitzchung scandal, they could lose 2 million subs in a snap.

Why do you pretend to know what you’re talking about?? You really think that people care about what happens to other people in such a fashion that everyone would quit?

That everyone would cut ties with their addiction/hobby/entertainment over some negative PR event as minuscule as blitzchung? That’s absurd. Blizzard could wrong any/all of their streamers and they’d still have a healthy subscriber count.

I’m not saying you’re delirious but I am saying you’re enjoying the scent of your own has a little too much.

[Huntaer]

I am curious as how you came to conclusion that WoW has a remaining lifespan of 2 years. This is a game that Blizzard wouldn't give up so lightly because it's their main milking cow generator.

And that is why i said at least. It could go for another decade or more.

[Powerogue]

RuneScape Classic only ended about a year ago when its population was roughly 50 legitimate players and 200 bots across all servers.

WoW will last a while.

[Swnem]

No, you don't understand how this works.

They will just keep adding new lore and expansions while there is intetest and makes them a ton of money. Lore is not something with a finite amount. You can always keep adding. You can also make time jumps, retcons or reboots.

The customers leave first, the game dies second. IP can continue though.
But, in short, it will die when not many people care about it anymore.

Ummm... what the hell?! FFXIV is not a rebooted FFXI. It's a completely different world.
If i had to compare it to WoW, it would be the equivalent of starting out in a new planet with completely new lore characters with no direct connection to WoW except the names of the spells and classes.

[Bryan Adam]

And that is why i said at least. It could go for another decade or more.

Well it's known that Blizzard has potentially at least 3 expansions coming up and running after the Shadowlands is over. So, no, not 2 years.

[Deferionus]

Think about it. A lot of 'mysteries' and things we haven't seen yet until now have been covered, and eventually, all of Azeroth will have been 'explored' story-wise, so to speak. There might not be anything left to make an entire expansion for, and maybe Blizzard will just release patches for the game?

But then I think of games like Runescape and Everquest which have had like 20 or so (might not be 100% correct) expacs, and as far as I know they're still going strong. I guess the WoW universe could be 'rebooted' the way that FF11 was remade as FF14? Could a WoW 2 be eventually made? Will the expansion after Shadowlands be the last before WoW is finally done?

WoW will exist as long as the business aspect of it makes sense. If it is ever non-profitable or Blizzard feels they would get better returns on another project such as WoW2 they will end it.