WoW came back from the brink because Blizzard ran it like a live service game—but now that same tactic's threatening everything

Alleria Windrunner looks at her son with a quizzical expression in World of Warcraft: Midnight, overlayed with PC Gamer's graphics for Terminally Online.

Terminally Online

(Image credit: Future)

This is Terminally Online: PC Gamer's very own MMO column. Every other week, I'll be sharing my thoughts on the genre, interviewing fellow MMO-heads like me, taking a deep-dive into mechanics we've all taken for granted, and, occasionally, bringing in guest writers to talk about their MMO of choice.

World of Warcraft's experienced a self-resurrection after the foibles of Shadowlands six years ago, and that's due, in part, to Blizzard worshipping at the altar of the roadmap—as opposed to past expansions, where content droughts could last into the hundreds of days, Blizzard has stuck to its plans with a religious strictness.