Blizzard uses Mists of Pandaria to take Warcraft back to its Orcs versus Humans roots

[Administrator]

Blizzard launches Mists of Pandaria, the fourth expansion for World of Warcraft, at midnight tonight at perhaps the most crucial time in the gargantuan fantasy MMO's seven year history.

With subscriptions down to nine million from a lifetime peak of over 12 million, it's clear WoW's immense popularity has suffered in recent years. The rise of free-to-play and the release of new games such as League of Legends and Blizzard's own Diablo 3 have taken their toll. But WoW remains the biggest subscription MMO in the world, and the millions it rakes in every month still mean a great deal to Activision Blizzard's bottom line.

No-one is talking about Mists of Pandaria saving World of Warcraft, but Blizzard will hope its new mechanics, increased level cap and high level gameplay will convince some of those lapsed fans to return to Warcraft's huge virtual world, and its Asian influence is surely an attempt to boost the game's popularity in China.

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