Over 25 high-level Hardcore WoW players died from big Blizzard server outage

Modified Mar 13, 2025 16:55 IST

Last night's North American server issues caused quite a few WoW Hardcore deaths (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Last night (March 12, 2025) many Hardcore WoW players suffered deaths that were, for once, completely not their fault. A massive server outage hit Blizzard’s entire catalog of games, as well as a major ISP and other games like OldSchool RuneScape. No matter what Blizzard game you were in, there were some pretty sizable disconnects. This naturally led to high-level players dying, from a wide assortment of situations, and some very hurt feelings on the player’s part.

Unfortunately, there is no strategy or tactic to prevent disconnection deaths in Hardcore WoW, other than to simply stop playing when the first server lag happens and hope for the best. There are players hoping to see a rollback hit, due to the sheer number of deaths players couldn't be at fault for.

WoW Hardcore players suffered many deaths at the hands of the Blizzard server outage

While the server stability seems to have been corrected at Blizzard, that did nothing to undo the Hardcore WoW player deaths that happened as a result. The server lag caused quite a few deaths — at least 25, according to Redditor whatarewii. It’s likely the number is significantly higher, considering how many people play on the Hardcore servers. Similar issues no doubt popped up in Diablo 4’s Hardcore ladder as well.

Comment byu/whatarewii from discussion inclassicwow

Expand Post

Some players have made light of the situation, joking about how many different things were going on, but many more were frustrated by the situation. The original poster, whatarewii, pointed out that they were grateful their Level 59 Rogue didn’t die, but quite a few players weren’t so lucky.

There are hopes of a rollback, but others aren’t so sure. Blizzard remains very firm on the stance that Hardcore is Hardcore. If you’re playing and something happens, you know the risks going in. If the rumor of it being a DDoS attack is true, there are Redditors hoping for some wiggle room on behalf of Blizzard.

Comment byu/whatarewii from discussion inclassicwow

Expand Post

However, I wouldn’t hold my breath for that. If it’s truly deaths in the hundreds or thousands though, there’s a possibility of Blizzard being lenient. We only know of at least 25 deaths, but in all likelihood, the number is so much higher.

While it is certainly unfortunate that Hardcore WoW players died during extreme server lag, it’s unknown what the solution will be. We’ll keep an eye on this situation to see if Blizzard rolls back the server, or if everyone who died simply have to start over.

Check out our other WoW guides and features

Edited by Angad Sharma