{"id":2242097,"date":"2026-11-06T18:47:51","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T15:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2242097"},"modified":"2026-11-06T18:47:51","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T15:47:51","slug":"blizzard-reveals-what-made-it-finally-pull-the-trigger-on-wow-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2242097","title":{"rendered":"Blizzard Reveals What Made It Finally Pull The Trigger on WoW Forever"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-cy=\"article-content\" class=\"jsx-462858067 article-content page-0\">\n<section data-cy=\"article-subtitle\" class=\"article jsx-3932497636 article-section jsx-242790214 news\" data-autopogo=\"true\">\n<section class=\"article-page\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/games\/world-of-warcraft-forever\">World of Warcraft Forever<\/a> came out earlier this week, and has been a massively successful launch. It almost begs the question, &#8220;Why wait this long?&#8221; Well, Blizzard has revealed what made it finally release the Classic+ game mode. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">In an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/newsletters\/2026-11-06\/why-blizzard-made-world-of-warcraft-forever\" class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bloomberg<\/a>, Blizzard senior game designer Josh Greenfield revealed that the developer had been kicking around the idea of WoW Forever since before Classic released in 2019, but the team ultimately pulled the trigger on the straight-up port of Vanilla WoW first. But while Forever was put on the backburner, the Classic team started to get a little bit more experimental as the old-school version of the MMO aged. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Then, in 2023, Blizzard released a new game mode, Season of Discovery, which took Classic and made some pretty radical changes, like ability gems and turning old 5-player dungeons like Blackfathom Deeps into full-scale raids. This game mode had some pretty immediate impacts on even retail WoW, like when Blizzard released Mists of Pandaria Remix in 2024 and Legion Remix in 2025. <\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">World of Warcraft: Forever Screenshots<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3027214138 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\" style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/RightChevron.272be43c.svg?cors=1) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-list\" class=\"scrollbar jsx-3524787213 jsx-4268464690 images-list\"><button data-cy=\"gallery-image\" type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 gallery-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"rounded jsx-412047461 overlay progressive-image jsx-2338608387 expand\" data-cy=\"slideshow-image-overlay\">\n<div data-cy=\"element-caption\" class=\"caption jsx-1762799490\">View 59 Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/button><button data-cy=\"gallery-image\" type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 gallery-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/button><button data-cy=\"gallery-image\" type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 gallery-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/button><button data-cy=\"gallery-image\" type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 gallery-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/button><button data-cy=\"gallery-image\" type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 gallery-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">But it turns out that the biggest impact that Season of Discovery had was making the WoW team pull the trigger on Classic+, or Forever. According to Greenfield, the community response to Season of Discovery is what made Forever actually happen. He told Bloomberg, \u201cThat\u2019s really when the conversation started around, \u2018Hey, what does a permanent version of this game look like?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Season of Discovery&#8217;s success also helped convince leadership to allow development on Forever to proceed, and once the team started getting the new graphics engines in place, everything seems to come together. According to that Bloomberg piece, Northshire Abbey became a tech demo of sorts, and one that won over pretty much everyone at Blizzard. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">And it&#8217;s good that it did. IGN&#8217;s early review of World of Warcraft Forever is extremely positive, and while it&#8217;ll obviously be a while before the full review is finished, <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/world-of-warcraft-forever-review\">reviewer Len Hafer says,<\/a> &#8220;[Blizzard] made me believe I can go home again \u2013 and that home is somewhere I want to spend more time, with new surprises to discover. Let&#8217;s see if they can keep it up for 47 more levels. Watch this space for updates in the weeks to come.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Players seem impressed with WoW Forever as well, especially on the back of an extremely smooth launch that was <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/world-of-warcraft-forever-launch-live-blog\">almost completely free of any kind of server problems<\/a>. It doesn&#8217;t hurt that Blizzard dedicated a ton of hardware to keeping the servers running smoothly at launch, <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/world-of-warcraft-forevers-launch-was-running-on-over-200000-gigabytes-of-ram\">with around 200TB of memory<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"poll-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\">\n<div class=\"card jsx-2310533475 jsx-1355461925 box poll-content-block\" data-cy=\"poll-content-block\">\n<fieldset class=\"answers jsx-332304107\" role=\"radiogroup\" aria-labelledby=\"poll-question\">\n<legend class=\"stack jsx-2624643483 jsx-4192417768\"><span class=\"stack jsx-3547261442\"><\/p>\n<h2 data-cy=\"poll-question\" class=\"title2 jsx-1903782357 jsx-1377259516 headline\" id=\"poll-question\">World of Warcraft Forever or Retail?<\/h2>\n<p><\/span><\/legend>\n<div data-cy=\"poll-answer\" class=\"jsx-45304670 poll-answer highlight\"><label class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 toggle-label jsx-803093603 left-justified radio\" for=\"answerId69485\" id=\"answerId69485-label\"><span class=\"label\">Forever<\/span><span data-cy=\"left-justified\" class=\"left-justified toggle-wrapper\"><span class=\"icon-toggle-indicator\"><\/span><\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1945348876\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-cy=\"poll-answer\" class=\"jsx-45304670 poll-answer\"><label class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 toggle-label jsx-803093603 left-justified radio\" for=\"answerId69486\" id=\"answerId69486-label\"><span class=\"label\">Retail<\/span><span data-cy=\"left-justified\" class=\"left-justified toggle-wrapper\"><span class=\"icon-toggle-indicator\"><\/span><\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-2988246289\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-cy=\"poll-answer\" class=\"jsx-45304670 poll-answer\"><label class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 toggle-label jsx-803093603 left-justified radio\" for=\"answerId69487\" id=\"answerId69487-label\"><span class=\"label\">Both!<\/span><span data-cy=\"left-justified\" class=\"left-justified toggle-wrapper\"><span class=\"icon-toggle-indicator\"><\/span><\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-2988246289\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-cy=\"poll-answer\" class=\"jsx-45304670 poll-answer\"><label class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 toggle-label jsx-803093603 left-justified radio\" for=\"answerId69488\" id=\"answerId69488-label\"><span class=\"label\">Neither<\/span><span data-cy=\"left-justified\" class=\"left-justified toggle-wrapper\"><span class=\"icon-toggle-indicator\"><\/span><\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-2988246289\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/fieldset>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-2624643483 jsx-4255654680 poll-controls\"><button class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3027214138 jsx-2267841559 contained disabled full-width large\" type=\"submit\" disabled data-cy=\"poll-answer-btn\">Answer<\/button><button class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button jsx-3027214138 jsx-1624977611 nav next-button small\" title=\"See Results\" aria-label=\"See Results\" data-cy=\"see-results-btn\"><span style=\"white-space:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-align:right\">See Results<\/span><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-4173866675\" role=\"img\" aria-hidden=\"false\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\" aria-label=\"See Results\" style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/RightChevron.272be43c.svg?cors=1) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"accent-divider\" class=\"jsx-3449795453 divider jsx-2786329600\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"author-sign-off\" data-cy=\"author-sign-off\"><span class=\"stack jsx-59817748 jsx-1927875859\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"rounded jsx-444076027 jsx-1730475047 profile-thumb jsx-2141281959 aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-1-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Jacqueline Thomas Avatar\" class=\"progressive-image profile-thumb-img jsx-249361588 jsx-2338608387 expand\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/assets-prd.ignimgs.com\/avatars\/640f55c4f3866b000174a9c6\/RD5zbE5b_400x400-1679594933868.jpg?crop=1%3A1&amp;width=56&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=80\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-2509706801 jsx-3630940851\"><span class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-702910195 author-sign-off-header\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/person\/Jackiecobra\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 jsx-2809511915 bold underlined\">Jacqueline Thomas<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"caption\" class=\"caption jsx-1762799490 muted\">Senior Tech Editor<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-2509706801 jsx-1220387432\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"author-sign-off-socials\" class=\"jsx-2877214176 author-sign-off-socials\"><button type=\"button\" aria-haspopup=\"listbox\" 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id=\"author-sign-off-social-blueskyUrl\" class=\"menu-item jsx-3565735818 jsx-3927327418\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"caption\" class=\"caption jsx-1762799490 menu-item-text\" data-text=\"Bluesky\">Bluesky<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ign-icon icon-bluesky jsx-2750866048 jsx-3701596282\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"icon-bluesky\" alt loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/Bluesky.d8b4aa9b.svg?cors=0\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/id\/jackiecobra\/\" id=\"author-sign-off-social-steamUrl\" class=\"menu-item jsx-3565735818 jsx-3927327418\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"caption\" class=\"caption jsx-1762799490 menu-item-text\" data-text=\"Steam\">Steam<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ign-icon icon-steam jsx-2750866048 jsx-3701596282\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"icon-steam\" alt loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/Steam.d65ad1e2.svg?cors=0\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 sign-off-text\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Jackie Thomas is the Senior Tech Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. She&#8217;s been covering gaming hardware for more than a decade for IGN, TechRadar, Gizmodo, PC Gamer and more. You can follow her\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jackiecobra\" class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer noopener noreferrer\"><em>@Jackiecobra<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/span><\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"jsx-3122592388 engagement-bar\"><button aria-label=\"Like, 0 likes\" title=\"Like\" type=\"button\" class=\"jsx-466673304 like-button\"><span class=\"stack jsx-3647836811 jsx-4269505506\"><span class=\"jsx-466673304 like-heart\"><span class=\"ign-icon icon-heart-thin outlined jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"icon-heart-thin\" aria-label style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/HeartThinOutline.cf4ee7cd.svg?cors=1) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"><\/span><\/span><span class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 jsx-4056184857 bold\">0<\/span><\/span><\/button><a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-2474574152\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" aria-label=\"0 comments\" title=\"Jump to comments\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/blizzard-reveals-what-made-it-finally-pull-the-trigger-on-wow-forever#comments\"><span class=\"stack jsx-3647836811 jsx-4269505506\"><span class=\"ign-icon icon-comment-thin jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"icon-comment-thin\" aria-label style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/CommentThinOutline.d932749c.svg?cors=1) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"><\/span><span class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 jsx-2906687209 bold\">0<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-1475529924\"><\/span><\/div>\n<section class=\"article-page\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/games\/world-of-warcraft-forever\">World of Warcraft Forever<\/a> came out earlier this week, and has been a massively successful launch. It almost begs the question, &#8220;Why wait this long?&#8221; Well, Blizzard has revealed what made it finally release the Classic+ game mode. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">In an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/newsletters\/2026-11-06\/why-blizzard-made-world-of-warcraft-forever\" class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bloomberg<\/a>, Blizzard senior game designer Josh Greenfield revealed that the developer had been kicking around the idea of WoW Forever since before Classic released in 2019, but the team ultimately pulled the trigger on the straight-up port of Vanilla WoW first. But while Forever was put on the backburner, the Classic team started to get a little bit more experimental as the old-school version of the MMO aged. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Then, in 2023, Blizzard released a new game mode, Season of Discovery, which took Classic and made some pretty radical changes, like ability gems and turning old 5-player dungeons like Blackfathom Deeps into full-scale raids. This game mode had some pretty immediate impacts on even retail WoW, like when Blizzard released Mists of Pandaria Remix in 2024 and Legion Remix in 2025. <\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">World of Warcraft: Forever Screenshots<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3027214138 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\" style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/RightChevron.272be43c.svg?cors=1) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-list\" class=\"scrollbar jsx-3524787213 jsx-4268464690 images-list\"><button data-cy=\"gallery-image\" type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 gallery-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"rounded jsx-412047461 overlay progressive-image jsx-2338608387 expand\" data-cy=\"slideshow-image-overlay\">\n<div data-cy=\"element-caption\" class=\"caption jsx-1762799490\">View 59 Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/button><button data-cy=\"gallery-image\" type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 gallery-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/button><button data-cy=\"gallery-image\" type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 gallery-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/button><button data-cy=\"gallery-image\" type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 gallery-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/button><button data-cy=\"gallery-image\" type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 gallery-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">But it turns out that the biggest impact that Season of Discovery had was making the WoW team pull the trigger on Classic+, or Forever. According to Greenfield, the community response to Season of Discovery is what made Forever actually happen. He told Bloomberg, \u201cThat\u2019s really when the conversation started around, \u2018Hey, what does a permanent version of this game look like?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Season of Discovery&#8217;s success also helped convince leadership to allow development on Forever to proceed, and once the team started getting the new graphics engines in place, everything seems to come together. According to that Bloomberg piece, Northshire Abbey became a tech demo of sorts, and one that won over pretty much everyone at Blizzard. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">And it&#8217;s good that it did. IGN&#8217;s early review of World of Warcraft Forever is extremely positive, and while it&#8217;ll obviously be a while before the full review is finished, <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/world-of-warcraft-forever-review\">reviewer Len Hafer says,<\/a> &#8220;[Blizzard] made me believe I can go home again \u2013 and that home is somewhere I want to spend more time, with new surprises to discover. Let&#8217;s see if they can keep it up for 47 more levels. Watch this space for updates in the weeks to come.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Players seem impressed with WoW Forever as well, especially on the back of an extremely smooth launch that was <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/world-of-warcraft-forever-launch-live-blog\">almost completely free of any kind of server problems<\/a>. It doesn&#8217;t hurt that Blizzard dedicated a ton of hardware to keeping the servers running smoothly at launch, <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/world-of-warcraft-forevers-launch-was-running-on-over-200000-gigabytes-of-ram\">with around 200TB of memory<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"poll-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\">\n<div class=\"card jsx-2310533475 jsx-1355461925 box poll-content-block\" data-cy=\"poll-content-block\">\n<fieldset class=\"answers jsx-332304107\" role=\"radiogroup\" aria-labelledby=\"poll-question\">\n<legend class=\"stack jsx-2624643483 jsx-4192417768\"><span class=\"stack jsx-3547261442\"><\/p>\n<h2 data-cy=\"poll-question\" class=\"title2 jsx-1903782357 jsx-1377259516 headline\" id=\"poll-question\">World of Warcraft Forever or Retail?<\/h2>\n<p><\/span><\/legend>\n<div data-cy=\"poll-answer\" class=\"jsx-45304670 poll-answer highlight\"><label class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 toggle-label jsx-803093603 left-justified radio\" for=\"answerId69485\" id=\"answerId69485-label\"><span class=\"label\">Forever<\/span><span data-cy=\"left-justified\" class=\"left-justified toggle-wrapper\"><span class=\"icon-toggle-indicator\"><\/span><\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1945348876\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-cy=\"poll-answer\" class=\"jsx-45304670 poll-answer\"><label class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 toggle-label jsx-803093603 left-justified radio\" for=\"answerId69486\" id=\"answerId69486-label\"><span class=\"label\">Retail<\/span><span data-cy=\"left-justified\" class=\"left-justified toggle-wrapper\"><span class=\"icon-toggle-indicator\"><\/span><\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-2988246289\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-cy=\"poll-answer\" class=\"jsx-45304670 poll-answer\"><label class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 toggle-label jsx-803093603 left-justified radio\" for=\"answerId69487\" id=\"answerId69487-label\"><span class=\"label\">Both!<\/span><span data-cy=\"left-justified\" class=\"left-justified toggle-wrapper\"><span class=\"icon-toggle-indicator\"><\/span><\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-2988246289\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-cy=\"poll-answer\" class=\"jsx-45304670 poll-answer\"><label class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 toggle-label jsx-803093603 left-justified radio\" for=\"answerId69488\" id=\"answerId69488-label\"><span class=\"label\">Neither<\/span><span data-cy=\"left-justified\" class=\"left-justified toggle-wrapper\"><span class=\"icon-toggle-indicator\"><\/span><\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-2988246289\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/fieldset>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-2624643483 jsx-4255654680 poll-controls\"><button class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3027214138 jsx-2267841559 contained disabled full-width large\" type=\"submit\" disabled data-cy=\"poll-answer-btn\">Answer<\/button><button class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button jsx-3027214138 jsx-1624977611 nav next-button small\" title=\"See Results\" aria-label=\"See Results\" data-cy=\"see-results-btn\"><span style=\"white-space:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-align:right\">See Results<\/span><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-4173866675\" role=\"img\" aria-hidden=\"false\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\" aria-label=\"See Results\" style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/RightChevron.272be43c.svg?cors=1) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"accent-divider\" class=\"jsx-3449795453 divider jsx-2786329600\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"author-sign-off\" data-cy=\"author-sign-off\"><span class=\"stack jsx-59817748 jsx-1927875859\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"rounded jsx-444076027 jsx-1730475047 profile-thumb jsx-2141281959 aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-1-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Jacqueline Thomas Avatar\" class=\"progressive-image profile-thumb-img jsx-249361588 jsx-2338608387 expand\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/assets-prd.ignimgs.com\/avatars\/640f55c4f3866b000174a9c6\/RD5zbE5b_400x400-1679594933868.jpg?crop=1%3A1&amp;width=56&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=80\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-2509706801 jsx-3630940851\"><span class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-702910195 author-sign-off-header\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/person\/Jackiecobra\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 jsx-2809511915 bold underlined\">Jacqueline Thomas<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"caption\" class=\"caption jsx-1762799490 muted\">Senior Tech Editor<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-2509706801 jsx-1220387432\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"author-sign-off-socials\" class=\"jsx-2877214176 author-sign-off-socials\"><button type=\"button\" aria-haspopup=\"listbox\" 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id=\"author-sign-off-social-blueskyUrl\" class=\"menu-item jsx-3565735818 jsx-3927327418\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"caption\" class=\"caption jsx-1762799490 menu-item-text\" data-text=\"Bluesky\">Bluesky<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ign-icon icon-bluesky jsx-2750866048 jsx-3701596282\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"icon-bluesky\" alt loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/Bluesky.d8b4aa9b.svg?cors=0\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/id\/jackiecobra\/\" id=\"author-sign-off-social-steamUrl\" class=\"menu-item jsx-3565735818 jsx-3927327418\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"caption\" class=\"caption jsx-1762799490 menu-item-text\" data-text=\"Steam\">Steam<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ign-icon icon-steam jsx-2750866048 jsx-3701596282\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"icon-steam\" alt loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/Steam.d65ad1e2.svg?cors=0\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 sign-off-text\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Jackie Thomas is the Senior Tech Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. She&#8217;s been covering gaming hardware for more than a decade for IGN, TechRadar, Gizmodo, PC Gamer and more. You can follow her\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jackiecobra\" class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer noopener noreferrer\"><em>@Jackiecobra<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/span><\/section>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>World of Warcraft Forever came out earlier this week, and has been a massively successful launch. It almost begs the question, &#8220;Why wait this long?&#8221; Well, Blizzard has revealed what made it finally release the Classic+ game mode. In an interview with Bloomberg, Blizzard senior game designer Josh Greenfield revealed that the developer had been [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,243],"class_list":["post-2242097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-ign-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2242097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242097\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2242097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2242097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2242097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}