The World of Warcraft Handbook: Twenty Years in Azeroth (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026)
Edited by David John Boyd (University of Glasgow) &  Russell McDermott (Dickinson College)

We invite chapter proposals for The World of Warcraft Handbook: Twenty Years in Azeroth, a critical anthology marking the twentieth anniversary of World of Warcraft (2004–2024), Blizzard Entertainment’s genre-defining MMORPG. As one of the most commercially successful and culturally influential games in digital history, World of Warcraft has shaped the development of online gaming and contributed significantly to the formation of contemporary virtual communities, transmedia storytelling practices, and digital economies. This volume seeks to assess the game’s aesthetic, cultural, political, and technological impact over two decades, foregrounding its role in both institutional and grassroots transformations within the global creative industries.

We are particularly interested in contributions that approach World of Warcraft as a dynamic site of critical inquiry, one that registers shifting paradigms in labour, representation, design philosophy, and participatory culture. From its early days as a pioneering online world to its current iterations as both a live-service and retro-gaming experience, WoW provides a rich case study for examining the broader social, industrial, and ideological stakes of digital play. This volume invites scholars to engage with WoW not only as a historically significant entertainment product but also as a complex, evolving cultural form that reflects and refracts the conditions of digital modernity.

Suggested Topics Include (but are not limited to):

Section 1: The Many Worlds of Warcraft – Aesthetics, Forms, and Narratives

• Storytelling, expansions, and transmedia narrative structures
• Art direction, music, sound design, and UI
• Ludonarrative dissonance and harmony in MMORPGs
• Nostalgia, innovation, and iterative worldbuilding
• Fan creations: machinima, fanfiction, modding, roleplaying

Section 2: Children of Azeroth – Cultures, Communities, and Creators

• Player identities, race, gender, and representation
• Streamers, bloggers, influencers, and esports cultures
• Theorycrafting, Discord servers, and collaborative content
• Digital ethnographies and player narratives
• Guilds, raiding, and online sociality

Section 3: Time is Money – Economic, Political, and Technological Transmutations

• Monetisation, live-service economies, and game design
• Blizzard’s corporate shifts: Activision, Microsoft, and the industry
• Labour activism, crunch culture, and working conditions
• Gold farming, boosting, and in-game class disparities
• Retro gaming, WoW Classic, Hardcore Mode, and Seasons of Discovery
• Diversity, censorship, and the politics of inclusion

Submission Guidelines

Please submit the following in a single Word doc or PDF to handbookwow@gmail.com by 31 July 2025:

• Chapter abstract (300–500 words), outlining your argument, methodology, and its fit within the volume’s scope
• Short biography (100–150 words), including institutional affiliation and career stage
• Optional: links to relevant publications or past work
• Please indicate if your proposed chapter is based on previously published material
  (Note: No more than 20% of the volume will consist of reprinted work.)

We particularly welcome submissions from scholars at all career stages – PhD candidates, early-career researchers, mid-career and senior academics – and seek a geographically and disciplinarily diverse group of contributors. Authors from underrepresented backgrounds in game studies and digital humanities are especially encouraged to apply.

Timeline

• Abstracts due: 31 July 2025
• Notifications: August 2025
• Full chapters (~7,500 words): 31 December 2025
• Final manuscript submitted to press: Spring 2026

About the Book

This volume will serve as both a scholarly reader and reference handbook, designed for researchers, educators, and students working in game studies, media studies, fan studies, digital humanities, and adjacent fields. It will also appeal to general audiences and gaming communities invested in World of Warcraft’s legacy and continuing evolution. The project builds on earlier foundational works (e.g., Digital Culture, Play, and Identity [2008], My Life as a Night Elf Priest [2010]) while recontextualising WoW in relation to contemporary discourses around platform capitalism, labour, online culture, and the aesthetics of digital life.

Contact Information

Contact
For inquiries, please contact:
David John Boyd / Russell McDermott – handbookwow@gmail.com