World of Warcraft: Forever is Xbox's GTA 6

We’ve seen numerous reports of GTA 6 pre-orders leading on the PS5 compared to Xbox, followed by Xbox’s management refuting those claims. The latest was Xbox CFO Matthew Ball’s response to Tom Warren’s post on X about the same, with Ball claiming the title is breaking records for Xbox. Now, it seems like the company doesn’t even need GTA 6, thanks to World of Warcraft: Forever.

At BlizzCon 2026 earlier this month, Blizzard announced World of Warcraft: Forever, which is essentially a remastered expansion for the game that originally came out in 2004. Shortly after, the beta went live, and it saw unprecedented traffic. The servers were maxed out, and fans all over couldn’t stop talking about the game. This included both new players and veterans, despite the fact that the beta was not free.

In a new report, Windows Central’s Jez Corden echoes what Josh Greenfield, a WoW Classic dev, said when the beta went live about the game being the busiest in 17 years. More interestingly, the game is releasing to the public on November 4 on PC, just over two weeks before the console exclusive GTA 6. Even though many other publishers and developers have skirted a November release precisely because of GTA 6 stealing all the spotlight, Blizzard and, by extension, Xbox, seem confident in World of Warcraft: Forever.

Corden also mentions CEO Asha Sharma’s promise that Xbox will return to growth this year doesn’t even factor in the potential success of World of Warcraft: Forever. That, paired with the new Minecraft updates, the Minecraft theme park, TV and movie licensing deals, and bringing Kojima on board, seems like a recipe for success. It’s hard to say if Xbox anticipated the success that World of Warcraft: Forever beta saw, but it was definitely a welcome surprise not just for fans but also for Xbox as a business.

So, while this may not be the best time for Xbox consoles, Xbox as a business seems like it’s on the right track. What do you think about World of Warcraft: Forever and Xbox's recent moves?