World of Warcraft Adds ‘Plunderstorm’ Battle Royale Event

In a new blog post, Blizzard revealed full details for the Plunderstorm limited-time event, available now in World of Warcraft’s latest update.

Plunderstorm is a pirate-themed battle royale mode. Players will need to “find abilities, upgrades, and loot” to be the last pirate standing in the Arathi Highlands.

Some World of Warcraft players might be unfamiliar with battle royale gameplay, and need some practice to survive. Fortunately, “Plunderers still gain progression that helps unlock new rewards”.

Blizzard released a cinematic trailer for the event, which will last “the next several weeks”.

Each Plunderstorm match will feature 60 players and last around 10 to 15 minutes. Players won’t have to purchase an expansion, but they do need a World of Warcraft Subscription or Game Time.

Today’s blog also teases “a new Esports tournament to celebrate Plunderstorm’s launch”. The devs did not confirm when the tournament will take place, but more information is coming soon.

Blizzard also released full patch notes for Plunderstorm. These notes lay out all of the key classes, dungeons and raids, items, and PVP details.

The battle royale genre continues to have legs by adapting and evolving. PUBG Battlegrounds plans to move into Unreal Engine 5.

Apex Legends just released a massive overhaul for its Battle Royale mode with the Breakout update. And Readyverse Studios just announced OPEN, a metaverse battle royale experience featuring pop culture biomes. The first biome will even feature Ready Player One content.

However, some World of Warcraft fans might be confused that the devs are testing BR waters with Plunderstorm. It will only be a limited-time event for now, but it does open the door to similar updates in the future.


For more of the latest Insider Gaming updates, you can read about the next wave of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass this month.