World of Warcraft

Intense overall intensity
Highest flag: Spending — real-money purchases
FantasyMMORPG

What's in it

Substances player uses or trades
High

Alcohol is a common in-game item players can drink, producing a woozy screen-blur effect, and events like Brewfest center on beer and taverns.

Spending real-money purchases
High

Beyond the subscription, an in-game store sells cosmetic mounts, pets, and services for real money, and a WoW Token can be bought with cash and sold for in-game gold.

Violence realistic
Moderate

Constant fantasy combat with swords, guns, and magic against monsters, demons, undead, and rival players; hits produce blood spatter (toggleable) but no gore or dismemberment.

Dark themes intense
Moderate

Storylines cover war, plague, genocide, undeath, and the corruption of once-heroic figures such as the Lich King.

Occult & ritual occult ritual depicted
Moderate

Warlock characters use demonic summoning circles and rituals and necromantic magic is a story element, presented as fictional fantasy sorcery.

Torture depicted
Moderate

A handful of quests and cutscenes reference or briefly show captives being tortured or interrogated within the lore.

Nudity revealing/suggestive attire
Low

Some armor and clothing on both male and female models is revealing or form-fitting, but characters are never fully nude.

Horror & psychological spooky
Low

Certain zones and dungeons use spooky graveyard, crypt, and undead imagery meant to unsettle rather than terrify.

Animal combat combat mechanic
Low

Players routinely hunt and kill beasts such as boars, wolves, and bears for quests, food, and skins as ordinary gameplay.

Sexual content suggestive
Low

Mild flirtatious NPC dialogue and some suggestively posed characters and outfits; nothing explicit.

Language mild
Low

Mild profanity and crude humor appear in some quest text and NPC dialogue; a chat filter is on by default.

Spending pressure optional
Low

Purchases are optional and not needed to progress; the store and subscription apply no aggressive time-limited pressure.

Who can reach your kid

Voice chatChat with strangersDirect messagesStranger friend requestsGifting / tradingReal-money spending

What it is

World of Warcraft is a long-running online fantasy role-playing game where you create a hero, explore a huge shared world, and team up with other real players to complete quests, clear dungeons, and battle monsters and rival players. Combat is constant but stylized, with magic, swords, and brief blood effects rather than realistic gore. The world's stories touch on death, plague, betrayal, and torture, and players can drink in-game alcohol that blurs the screen. Because it is an online game, you regularly chat and play with strangers, and it costs a monthly subscription plus optional real-money purchases for cosmetic mounts and pets.

How it's framed

The game frames players as heroes of one of two factions fighting to defend their world, so most violence is cast as righteous struggle against demons, undead, and enemy players. Darker material like torture and genocide appears as villainy the player opposes rather than as something glorified, and the tone shifts between lighthearted adventure and grim epic depending on the storyline.

Details

Developer
Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher
Blizzard Entertainment
Released
2004
Metacritic 93critic score (third-party) · out of 100

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