I came to a harrowing realization today...

[SMBComix]

If World of Warcraft dies, Warcraft as a brand will cease to exist. There will be no Warcraft 4, no additional Warcraft movies even if the current one is a success... unfortunately Blizzard shot themselves in the foot by making Warcraft, the IP that put them on the map, the subject of a highly-successful MMO.

If and when WoW dies, Warcraft itself dies with it. I don't know about you guys, but I'm not prepared for that eventuality -- it's become the only fantasy setting I actually LIKE anymore. Well, aside from Diablo... but Diablo only has humans and demons and angels. No orcs, elves, dwarves, etc.

 

[Chaosy]

It's not IF WoW dies.
All games die sooner or later. How many will play wc3 in 50 years?

However I do not agree with your 'realization'. Both Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm carry the Warcraft series onwards.
And what prevents them from creating wc4 in 20 years? Just like the Star Wars got another sequel 30 years later.

 

[LordDz]

Did you know that all games die eventually.
So..

To stop this, we need to force game developers to not make games anymore.

 

[Heinvers]

I came to know all my emotions.

 

[Kaijyuu]

I watch movies made 50 years ago. Read books written hundreds of years ago. Hear stories made thousands of years ago.

Media only dies if it's forgotten.

Will Warcraft last the ages? Not likely. But people will like it for some time after all the servers go down.

 

[Chaosy]

I admit I have watched movies from 50 years ago such as Psycho, but the only reason I did that was because it was a school project to compare it with modern films, the movie was absolutely horrible.

I can understand books surviving though since they do not get outdated in the same way.

 

[VeljkoM]

I could argue that "Warcraft" brand died in 2004 when "World of Warcraft" brand was born.

 

[Abelhawk]

Yeah, I find myself hoping that they'll just say Nozdormu turned back time and erased everything that happened during WoW, and they can just start where WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne left off and resume the strategy game genre. If only...

 

[Zwiebelchen]

Dude, World of Warcraft is insane. It's literally a one-of-a-kind phenomena that changed the gaming scene forever. World of Warcraft was first released in 2004; now, 12 years later, the game is still here and stronger than any other MMO on the market.
Of course, you could say that LOL with it's 20 million players gave blizzard a run for their money... but if you truly think about it, it's clear who is actually sitting on the throne here: ... Nobody will talk about LOL anymore in two years tops. It's just getting old too quickly (In fact, the MOBA market is already on the decline again). Maybe they do have more players than WoW even on it's peak, but the sifference is: WoW is there for over a decade longer than this game, generating over 10 billion dollars of turnover since it's initial release (note: this is more than the GDP of some developing countries).

What sounds more likely to you:
- Blizzard letting their most successful thing die for no reason (and of course, firing all the veterans in the Blizzard MMO developement staff in the process)
- Blizzard announcing their next big MMO title for their other popular franchise (that just so happens to end with -craft aswell) one month after the release of their final expansion

...
I think we know the answer. Blizzard will announce Warcraft IV in the exact same moment "Starcraft Online" gets released. It just makes sense. They don't want to compete with their own games. That's why blizzard has only one "hot title" per genre active at the same time.
In fact, I'd love to see WoW kick the bucket at last. I want to see their next big MMO.

 

[sunshinex3]

Hogwash

If World of Warcraft dies, Warcraft as a brand will cease to exist. There will be no Warcraft 4, no additional Warcraft movies even if the current one is a success... unfortunately Blizzard shot themselves in the foot by making Warcraft, the IP that put them on the map, the subject of a highly-successful MMO.

If and when WoW dies, Warcraft itself dies with it. I don't know about you guys, but I'm not prepared for that eventuality -- it's become the only fantasy setting I actually LIKE anymore. Well, aside from Diablo... but Diablo only has humans and demons and angels. No orcs, elves, dwarves, etc.

Pure hog wash; I SAY!
WC3 was here before WOW and it will be here long after.

 

[Duke]

I think that the WArcraft franchise might get some more attention now that the movie is coming out

 

[bluedragon463]

Yeah, I find myself hoping that they'll just say Nozdormu turned back time and erased everything that happened during WoW, and they can just start where WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne left off and resume the strategy game genre. If only...

Well they did already pulled an alternate future thing in WoW with Warlords of Draenor, so they could pretty much do the same for Warcraft IV if blizzard ever decides to make one.