The World of Warcraft Opens
The event celebrating the open beta of Fantasy Universe: World of Warcraft was held, as expected, at the Silicon Valley Convention Center, the venue that had hosted most of ID Group’s grand spectacles. It was a one-day affair on a weekday, yet no expense had been spared. To say they had poured their heart into it was simply another way of saying they had spared no cost.
That fact hit visitors the moment they reached the entrance. Massive full-body statues of an orc rider and a mounted knight stirred excitement in every gamer who saw them. Behind the statues, Alliance and Horde banners stood side by side, forming a grand corridor that led all the way to the convention center. Of course, a colossal version of the World of Warcraft title screen hung above the main entrance.
Even though it was a weekday, the corridor and entrance were packed with gamers. The September 11 attacks had momentarily frozen American society, but for those who had eagerly awaited this day after enjoying Warcraft 1 and 2, the mood was one of pure joy. Still, one thing had changed dramatically since before 9/11: the security checkpoint.
Visitors had to pass through large metal detectors like those used at airports, followed by a simple inspection of personal belongings. The reason for such thorough security was obvious. Large public gatherings had become prime targets for terrorism after the attacks. Before 9/11, terrorists had usually chosen politically significant targets, but everything had shifted afterward.
Most critically, Al-Qaeda operatives who had slipped into the United States were still active, with arrests occurring only sporadically. In contrast, the media had widely reported that Yoo Jae-won and ID Group’s cutting-edge technology had played a decisive role in the capture of Osama bin Laden. That made the possibility of retaliation uncomfortably high. Until every last Al-Qaeda agent in America was rounded up, it was better to accept a little inconvenience and remain vigilant.
A short while later, when the pre-announced opening time arrived, the lights over the convention center’s main stage dimmed. The curtain that had veiled the stage was drawn back. The gamers seated in the audience burst into cheers the moment it was revealed. And for good reason—the stage had been built to perfectly recreate a breathtaking scene from Azeroth, the world of Warcraft.
A massive screen—the kind now standard at any major product launch—displayed the World of Warcraft logo in enormous letters, swelling the gamers’ hearts with anticipation. ID Group’s presentations never failed to impress.
— Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the President of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Morhaime!
Yoo Jae-won sat among the VIP seats, but the presentation of World of Warcraft had been entrusted to Mike Morhaime. Every resource ID Entertainment possessed had been mobilized for the game’s development. The cinematic team from ID Entertainment had created the cinematics, while the game engine was ID Software’s ID Tech engine. It wasn’t merely a matter of borrowing the engine—John Carmack, President of ID Software, had personally provided technical guidance. The Origin system had been involved from the very beginning of the WoW project. It had truly been a joint operation across ID Entertainment’s various divisions.
Of course, Blizzard Entertainment stood at the center of it all. No matter how much technical help was given, planning a game and actually implementing it required tremendous effort. That was why it was only right for Mike Morhaime to lead the open beta event.
“First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the gamers who have come here today despite it being a weekday.”
As soon as he stepped onto the stage, Mike Morhaime showed his respect for the players.
“We know very well how long you have waited for this game. Therefore, the top priority for both Blizzard Entertainment and ID Entertainment was to meet the announced schedule without any delays.”
Next came the boast about the on-time release. In his previous life, Blizzard had been so notorious for delays that people coined the term “Blizzard Time.” It wasn’t that they lacked ability. They simply refused to release anything that didn’t meet their own uncompromising standards, repeatedly scrapping and restarting projects. That perfectionism was the soul of Blizzard’s craftsmanship.
Yoo Jae-won respected that spirit, but he had been careful to prevent the habit of scrapping projects from becoming too entrenched. That was why, unlike the drone project or the electric supercar LV-F1 where he had simply provided funding and time, he had been involved in World of Warcraft from the development stage, offering opinions and even participating in closed beta as if conducting a stress test.
“I would also like to thank Chairman Yoo Jae-won, whose generous support made it possible for us to keep the release schedule.”
Everyone at Blizzard, including Mike Morhaime, deeply appreciated Jae-won’s help, so it was only natural that gratitude would be expressed. The gamers felt the same and did not hesitate to cheer and applaud.
“I think that’s enough introductions. Now, let us begin by revealing the opening title of World of Warcraft.”
Doom-doom!
With Mike Morhaime’s words, a deep bass rumble filled the hall. Light poured from the title logo on the main screen, then dramatically expanded as the famous opening cinematic began to play across the entire display.
"Four years have passed since the races of Azeroth banded together to stand against the overwhelming might of the Burning Legion."
"Though Azeroth was saved, the fragile bond of trust between the Horde and the Alliance has finally been severed."
⟨ World of Warcraft ⟩
The refined, sensual voice of the female narrator alone was enough to make the gamers’ hearts race. Even those who had never played Warcraft 1 or 2 could not help but be drawn in by the overwhelming visuals. Thanks to Yoo Jae-won, computer technology was seven years ahead of its time. Knowing the importance of visuals, they had poured far more computing power into this cinematic than the original, creating something truly spectacular.
It was so advanced that it had even been featured in academic papers in the CG industry, and the production cost had skyrocketed accordingly. Rumors claimed that each second of footage had cost $100,000. The level of technology and capital invested was staggering. The quality was high enough to be released as a theatrical film.
When the title screen on the main display had first glowed with light, the audience had erupted in cheers. Now, the hall was so silent one could hear a pin drop. The visuals were that overwhelming, the composition that dramatic.
The opening cinematic ended with a tauren warrior’s mighty swing of a massive log axe. The audience, which had been holding its breath, exploded with an overwhelming reaction.
"The open beta for World of Warcraft begins right now!"
The moment the opening ended, Mike Morhaime returned to the stage and officially declared the start of the open beta servers. He then explained the schedule: the worldwide open beta would run for two months. If no major issues were found, the official commercial service would launch on January 1, 2002.
The subscription price was set at $29 per month. In the United States, it was neither particularly cheap nor expensive. In Korean won, however, it came to 37,000 won. Given that the exchange rate at the end of October 2001 was 1,300 won to the dollar, adding VAT brought it close to 40,000 won. Considering the average income in Korea, that was an extremely high price.
Therefore, for the Korean server, the price was set at 29,000 won including VAT. Prices were adjusted country by country according to economic conditions. Thanks to this, one could roughly compare national economic power by looking at the monthly fee converted to dollars. Korea had the cheapest rate, while Switzerland had the most expensive. Even so, Switzerland’s price was only about fifty percent higher than Korea’s—not an outrageous difference.
In the United States, there was one additional special product.
“We have also prepared a collector’s package for enthusiasts.”
In Korea, the physical game package market had already gone extinct, but in America, even online games sold well when released with DVDs, manuals, and other physical items. World of Warcraft therefore had a standard $59 package. Naturally, there was also an ultra-luxury limited collector’s edition.
Two versions had been made, one for each major faction. The Horde version included a meticulously crafted orc rider figurine, while the Alliance version featured a human knight. Both came with a setting book, an OST music CD, a full-color manual, and the game DVD. The collector’s package was priced at a hefty $300, yet they had sold out instantly. Only fifty of each version had been produced, for a total of one hundred limited units. Reservations had been taken through P Market, and they had vanished the moment sales opened.
It made sense. Even at $300, buyers stood to make a profit. Limited editions of Blizzard’s first hit, Warcraft 1, and ID Software’s landmark title Doom were already trading for $10,000 to $20,000. The more popular a game, the higher the premium on its limited editions. Since everyone expected World of Warcraft to be a massive success, collectors had swarmed in.
Even though physical shipping had not yet begun, people who had secured the limited editions were already listing them for resale on P Market—at several times the original price. The American packages also included a three-month subscription. Entering the CD key granted three months of play. Since that was effectively two months’ worth of time for the price of three, the system had been set so that each account could only use the bonus once.
Even people who had never played Warcraft could buy the package, try the game for three months, and then purchase a monthly subscription if they liked it.
“Now, we will guide you into the world of Azeroth in earnest. To help with that, please welcome a very special guest.”
It was finally Yoo Jae-won’s time to shine. Receiving thunderous applause from the gamers, he walked onto the stage and took his prepared seat. Today’s true protagonists were World of Warcraft and the Blizzard staff led by Mike Morhaime. Jae-won’s role was simply to demonstrate the ultimate gameplay experience.
For that purpose, a row of computer stations had been set up on one side of the stage—ten seats per row, twenty seats total.
“In most RPGs, the game ends once you reach maximum level. But online games are different. What we have invested the most effort into for World of Warcraft is the endgame content. Chairman Yoo Jae-won and Blizzard’s testers will now show you a portion of the max-level content we have prepared.”
What Jae-won would demonstrate today was the 20-player raid that World of Warcraft Original was famous for, along with faction-based field warfare.
The biggest difference between the WoW of his previous life and the one being released now was the graphics. Considering the computer technology of the time, the original graphics had not been bad, but this version surpassed even single-player FPS games that had gone all-in on visuals. Even more significant, however, was the network engine.
The optimization of the netcode connecting players to the server, the server software capable of handling massive concurrent users, and more had been brought to the level of late 2010s technology. Thanks to this, a single server could support ten thousand simultaneous connections from the very beginning, and hundreds of players could gather in one zone to wage war. It was on an entirely different scale from the dozens of players awkwardly sieging a castle in the original version.
The next day.
As usual, Yoo Jae-won began his official work in the study. The first thing he did was open the internet and check the news.
World of Warcraft Open Beta Begins! First Day Sees Massive Queues—Thousands Waiting, 3–4 Hours to Enter!
Blizzard Struggles to Add Servers Faster Than Queue Growth!
“A Feast Worthy of Its Reputation!” Gaming Magazines Overflow with Praise!
The news page of NextCom, which had been filled with negative stories lately, was now overflowing with good news. Although he had already received a report the previous day, the concurrent user count had set a new record. Tens of thousands had flooded in the moment the servers opened, and the number kept climbing.
Anticipating this, they had pre-configured cloud servers and added new ones whenever queues grew too long. Still, they could not prevent queues from forming entirely. The reason was simple. While a few people had quit after only a few minutes because the game didn’t suit their taste, most players stayed logged in for several hours once they connected. With far more people entering than leaving, queues were inevitable.
The unfortunate part was that despite this explosive popularity, not a single cent had entered Jae-won’s pocket yet. However, it was already clear that World of Warcraft would be responsible for next year’s ID Group revenue. Retail orders for the North America-only physical packages had skyrocketed, and requests for packages were pouring in from Europe and even Korea.
What made Jae-won smile even more was that another cash cow, ready to generate a literal avalanche of money, was preparing for launch. The first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, had completed all preparations and was about to be released simultaneously around the world.