Blizzard announces plans to merge some World of Warcraft realms

Blizzard has announced that some of the low population World of Warcraft realms will be merged with more popular options having completed a comprehensive study on what's going on in each realm in the world.

The company explained that 'World of Warcraft is best when you have a community of other players around you,' citing that while there are numerous ways to participate in cross-realm play, there are still specific aspects that are solely dependent on the realm you choose. Community Manager, Kaivax, went on to explain, 'from your history with your guild to your interactions with the economy around you, a realm with a healthy population provides more opportunities.'

Server merges are something that happens every once in a while with the game. It's hardly surprising given World of Warcraft is now 16 years old that populations can get a bit divided. It's generally considered partly as a bid to make the experience all the better for players (no one wants to play an empty MMORPG) while also offering some cost-cutting endeavours for Blizzard as they won't have to worry about funding less than optimal servers/realms. Typically, things go fairly successfully and everyone wins.

Blizzard plans on connecting low-population realms to other existing realms over the next two to three months with the process taking place during scheduled maintenance. Each week, low-population realms will find themselves connected to busier servers as Blizzard works through the list. 

Notices will be posted in advance so you won't find yourself suddenly part of a new community. The only potential downside here is that you may need to change your name if your character name clashes with an existing character on the other realm.

No announcements have been made regarding what constitutes a low-population realm or the ones that will be affected, although you can always log on and gain a rough idea via the server browser. 

With the prospect of the new World of Warcraft Shadowlands expansion launch later this year, this is an ideal time for Blizzard to tidy up the game a bit, as well as give players a chance to enjoy a more player-rich environment. Keep an eye out to see if your realm is affected. News on specific servers should be soon.