Mogu'shan Vaults Week 2 DPS Rankings
To say that players were excited when WoW Classic was announced back in 2017 would be a massive understatement. Fast forward to the 2019 launch, and the servers could barely contain the massive player counts. WoW had been given new life. This was shortly followed by The Burning Crusade Classic, which also introduced the Classic Era, the first branch for Classic players.
Era servers were intended for players who did not want to move on to The Burning Crusade, but wanted to continue playing the same character they had grown attached to. This was shortly followed by Season of Mastery, a fresh start for Classic, complete with a faster schedule and quicker leveling. At this point, players were still largely excited about The Burning Crusade, and having just been through Classic, were not very receptive to repeating it.
The release of Wrath Classic in 2022 marks the first time a Retail expansion and a Classic expansion directly competed for players' attention. While this was noticeable for active players, Wrath of the Lich King was a fan favorite expansion and had a mostly active player base to show for it. Skipping ahead to 2024, the player base is spread incredibly thin. Players have access to Cataclysm, Season of Discovery, Classic Fresh, Classic Hardcore, and the most recent Retail expansion, The War Within. While a lot of these releases were staggered, giving players some breathing room between releases, the split player base was obvious to anyone actively playing any version of Classic.
Mists of Pandaria released on July 21st, with Phase 1 raid releases staggered to July 31st, August 21st, and September 4th, respectively. The War Within Season 3 began on August 5th, with most content being released on August 12th. Phase 5 and the Ahn'Qiraj raids for Anniversary Edition were released on July 10th. There are only so many hours in a week, and this overlap forced a lot of players to prioritize one version over any other.
Year
WoW Releases
2019
WoW Classic
2020
Shadowlands
2021
The Burning Crusade Classic
Classic Era
Season of Mastery
2022
Wrath of the Lich King Classic
Dragonflight
2023
Season of Discovery
2024
Cataclysm Classic
20th Anniversary Edition
Classic Hardcore
The War Within
Mists of Pandaria: Remix (Retail Event)
2025
Mists of Pandaria Classic
Cataclysm Classic was one of the lowest points for active player count in Classic, especially toward the very end of the expansion. Mists of Pandaria has significantly boosted the player count since then, but is it enough? Week 1 was far below both Wrath of the Lich King Classic and Cataclysm Classic; however, week 2 is showing a promising increase. An extra week might have been all players need to reach max level and reach the point of being able to raid log, instead of actively gearing and preparing.
Expansion
Week 2 Raiders
Week 5 Raiders
Week 10 Raiders
Final Week Raiders
Classic
60,000
112,000
241,000
215,000
The Burning Crusade
158,000
310,000
356,000
257,000
Wrath of the Lich King
540,000
623,000
499,000
50,000
Cataclysm
299,000
301,000
211,000
62,000
Mists of Pandaria
180,000
TBD
TBD
TBD
These numbers are based on ironforge.pro demographics and are not a perfect representation of player count or player interest.
Keep in mind, the numbers in early weeks are not entirely accurate for comparison. Going from 1-60, or even 60-70, took a lot more time and effort than going from 80-85 or 85-90.
At its peak, WoW Classic had over 600,000 active raiders during Phase 1 of Wrath of the Lich King Classic.
Player demographics sourced from ironforge.pro only include characters raiding and pvping and are not representative of the entire population.
Time will tell if Mists of Pandaria can claw its way back to some of the highs Classic has previously experienced. Have you found yourself prioritizing one version of WoW over others? Do you wish the release cadence were different, so that you could experience multiple versions of WoW? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!
