Look, World of Warcraft (hereafter referred to as WoW) has finally stirred from its slumber this week. In a particularly cut-throat weekly ranking battle, the game leaped four spots to land at 17th place. The vibe is rather unusual, too. Veteran players who hung up their cloaks long ago are diving back in. The spark reigniting the fire in the hearts of those veterans comes from another classic version, WoW: Forever, which entered beta testing on September 18. It was already the talk of the town among WoW news when unveiled at BlizzCon this year, and the momentum has truly kicked into high gear now that the beta is live.

WoW: Forever can be described as a sort of 'Classic Plus', adding fresh content to the original iteration of WoW known as 'vanilla'. Alongside graphical overhauls featuring realistic lighting casting across the fields, the game introduces three new zones, over 1,000 new quests, nine dungeons, and two raids. Combinations of races and classes previously impossible in the original, such as Forsaken Paladins, are now available, and a new elven race, 'Skyborn', also makes an appearance. True to the spirit of reinterpreting 'vanilla', the level cap will remain at 60 indefinitely.

While WoW already had a classic version, criticisms were raised that continuous updates diluted the old-school flavor. Quite a few users reacted passionately, arguing, 'This is not a true classic.' Amidst this, numerous players in South Korea expressed delight at the prospect of experiencing the most nostalgic original WoW with a fresh twist. Josh Greenfield, a senior game designer at Blizzard participating in WoW Classic, even mentioned that the metrics recorded by the Forever beta are the highest in a 17-year career.

Looking at key indicators, portal search volumes and personal broadcast viewership have increased significantly. In particular, user trends of reminiscing while watching streamers play on broadcasts were more active than usual. However, a crucial question arises regarding how Blizzard's announcement to ban 'gold parties' (a method where raid equipment is bid on using gold), which are heavily active in South Korea as well for WoW: Forever, will impact future momentum.

Entering the charts at 45th last week, Pawprint Studio's new monster-collecting title 'Animo' made a massive leap during its launch week. It surged by a staggering 20 steps in just one week to settle at 25th. Ever since Palworld, games combining open-world exploration with monster collection have rapidly become the mainstream trend. However, simply chasing trends with a mere copycat is not enough to defeat formidable competitors.

In that regard, Animo sets itself apart by focusing squarely on the mysterious creatures known as 'Animo', which serve as both collection targets and the player's companions. The title emphasizes the feeling of living, breathing entities through realistic depictions of fluffy fur, glossy leaves, and the smooth metallic sheen of protective armor. Additionally, the game features 'Twine' allowing players to transform directly into an Animo for combat and exploration, along with journey quests to uncover hidden stories behind the creatures. With the mobile version launched on September 23, further continuous climbing can certainly be anticipated.

In the mid-tier, Special Force climbed five spots to take 27th place. The spike in interest driven by the Special Force Remaster released on September 18 appears to have directly influenced the rankings. Led by Special Force, the revival of classic games in South Korea—such as The War of Genesis Gaiden: Rhapsody of Zephyr and Xenonia launched on Steam—is gaining active momentum. It remains to be seen whether this trend will stop at mere nostalgia-bait or serve as a viable new lifeline for the industry.

In the lower tier, Black Desert and Mabinogi suffered steep declines. Black Desert slumped eight spots down to 34th, while Mabinogi plummeted 11 steps to barely scrape by at 47th. Both games experienced sharp drops in portal search volumes this week. With a lack of engaging material to attract interest toward the games themselves, an influx of other titles successfully drawing attention through topical issues coincided, leading the pair to be relatively pushed out of the ranking competition.