Summary
- WoW Tokens prices have reached record highs, making it more difficult to sustain a World of Warcraft subscription without using real money.
- The real money value of WoW Tokens has remained consistent, but the in-game gold value has fluctuated dramatically, with some regions experiencing record-breaking numbers.
- WoW Token prices are influenced by factors such as an overabundance of gold in the game, new items or sales on the Blizzard store, and major releases in other Blizzard games like Diablo 4 or Overwatch 2.
World of Warcraft has recently seen the price of WoW Tokens break the historical record for the highest cost in gold in nearly every region. This means more players are buying WoW Tokens with gold rather than cash, and that sustaining a World of Warcraft subscription without using real money is harder than ever.
WoW Tokens are an officially endorsed RMT system introduced on April 12, 2015, during the Warlords of Draenor expansion. Players can buy WoW Tokens with in-game gold to redeem for a month of subscription time or $15 of Blizzard account balance, or they can buy it with real money and sell it for gold in World of Warcraft.
The real money value of WoW Tokens has stayed consistent over the years, but the in-game gold value has fluctuated dramatically. Now, the value of a single WoW Token–which historically averaged around 100,000 to 150,000 in US servers–has peaked at 330,991 near the end of August. Other regions around the world have seen similar record-breaking numbers, with EU WoW Tokens jumping to 436,068 gold, and Taiwan brushing close to a whopping million gold around the same time.
Interestingly enough, the Korean WoW Token price seems to have avoided this price hike so far, with its record still firmly at the previous peak of 584,797 gold during the 2018 boom caused by the abundance of gold from Legion’s Mission Tables. Unfortunately, due to the fallout between Blizzard and Netease, there is no data on the Chinese WoW Token costs, though it would likely be following a similar trend.
The biggest factors that cause WoW Token prices to rise are an overabundance of gold in the game or a bevy of new items or sales on the Blizzard store. On the converse, prices fall when the demand for in-game gold rises, and when more people are playing World of Warcraft. However, because WoW Tokens can be used to buy other Blizzard games, major releases in Diablo 4 or Overwatch 2 often cause prices to jump up.
Unfortunately, this means WoW Token prices are more likely to stay high for the time being. World of Warcraft is about to release Patch 10.1.7, and Patch 10.2 won’t be long after, but these releases also coincide with Blizzcon 2023 virtual ticket sales, Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 Battle Passes, and the inevitable Blizzard Winter Sale. With so many things to buy in various Blizzard games right now, there may be little relief for the price of WoW Tokens until the next World of Warcraft expansion releases.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC.
Source: Wowhead, Wowtokenprices, Wowanalytica