World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor just had its worldwide release. If you didn’t know much about the World of Warcraft game, it has several million players worldwide, it’s one of the most successful multi-player online games ever, and the marketing for the latest expansion has gone over the top this year!
For a game that is over ten years old, Blizzard has worked hard to make every expansion worth buying and added more to the already extremely detailed world.
However, Warlords of Draenor has some of the heaviest design changes out of every expansion that has released so far. Blizzard Entertainment worked hard to redesign the character models, levels, and added to the existing world to stay current with the latest techniques in game design.
Here’s what is unique about World of Warcraft and why it’s lasted for ten years – each expansion rebrands the product to make it new and interesting to players. These expansions are treated as an additional branch of the World of Warcraft brand and the expansions build on the existing hype of World of Warcraft. However, they are able to be marketed separately from the original game.
Every game expansion has its own version of the World of Warcraft logo. These logos redefine the feel of the game to help players feel more connected to what is going on. Not only does a new logo build excitement for the next level of the game, but it hints at the central themes of the expansion. Blizzard Entertainment works hard to design a logo that builds up excitement for their latest content.
Let’s take a closer look at the fine level of details that you’ve probably missed on these fantastic logos!
Image Source: wow.gamepedia.com
Burning Crusade was the first expansion of World of Warcraft, and this logo design doesn’t have the same level of detail as later expansions. However, it does leave hints of the expansion theme with the “fel-green” color of the demonic energy with its re-colored scheme.
If you squint, you can say that the typography of the expansion title is sharp and seems to hint at calligraphy that is used for the demonic ritual symbols in the game as well. This is the only time you see this typography used as every expansion after it is different.
What makes this logo great is it increased the buzz of new content and tied it to the original game in a distinct way. It’s also the only expansion that had a nearly three year wait before Blizzard released new content, including races, levels, and professions.
Image Source: wow.gamepedia.com
Wrath of the Lich King expansion logo was the first to use a level of greater detail to hint at the themes of the game upgrade. The sides of the original boxed logo are iced over and the title of the expansion is set completely on an ice background. The world globe is completely iced over as well, which implies that this is going to affect every aspect of the game.
The typography of the expansion title seems to glow with the hint of the ice magic that is frequently seen in this aspect of the game.
Image Source: wow.gamepedia.com
Blizzard Entertainment steps it up a notch with the Cataclysm expansion logo. Check out the world that’s cracked with burning veins of fire at the top of the creative logo design! The world with this expansion literally cracks into pieces as the main enemy of this expansion pops out of the center of the world. The fire that lights the entire background of the logo is showcasing the prevent fire theme and the destruction that is seen throughout the expansion.
The typography for the expansion title looks similar to the Burning Crusade title, but the subtle differences of the “A” lead you to believe that the fire is not caused by demonic forces.
Image Source: wow.gamepedia.com
The Mists of Pandaria expansion logo is the first time we see the spiked sides of the boxed part of the logo change. Instead of spikes, we now have Chinese dragons curling around the box to hint at the heavy Chinese themes that are present in this expansion.
This expansion changed the background to a softer, ocean blue that hints to the mysterious content that seemed hidden from the game’s world map for so long. I’m sensing a theme of the background and elements! If you’re keeping track, we’ve now had water, ice, fire, and water again.
The last interesting detail is the scroll under the expansion title that relates to the nature of the newest areas. This expansion is all about ancient and sacred areas, and much of that information is located on scrolls.
Image Source: wow.gamepedia.com
Warlords of Draenor brings you back to the original Warcraft games. The color palette and title reminds players of the history of the game and where the game’s story originated – the Warcraft PC games.
The box around the logo is wooden with metal wraps and spikes recall the orc structures that are a big part of the Orc culture’s architecture. But the background of the logo is rather plain and looks similar to the same background texture used in the game’s map feature. Take a closer look at the world globe and you will see the hint of a fiery glow at the bottom of the world. This is a hint to the destruction that has just come through the portal to the main world.
Interestingly enough, the typography for this expansion title changed for the first time since the Wrath of the Lich King – it’s the same font! This is a conscious choice on Blizzard’s part considering that they used the game lore from the PC Warcraft games. The Wrath of the Lich King also used the same game lore.
Blizzard Entertainment’s designers certainly have executed creative design thinking for each logo design since the original game. It’s obvious that they want to make each expansion have a unique feel to it as soon as you see the logo.
It’s true that the designers are working hard on the game mechanics, but it’s obvious that they understand branding is important and learned how to piggyback on their existing content to continue to grow the brand as a whole.
Do you know of any other games that create a new logo for each expansion?
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