title: Multiple myeloma

text: Rarely, Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is associated with multiple myeloma, particularly in individuals who have an immunodeficiency due to e.g. HIV/AIDS, organ transplantation, or a chronic inflammatory condition such as rheumatoid arthritis. EBV-positive multiple myeloma is classified by the World Health Organization (2016) as one form of the Epstein–Barr virus-associated lymphoproliferative diseases and termed Epstein–Barr virus-associated plasma cell myeloma. EBV-positive disease is more common in the plasmacytoma rather than multiple myeloma form of plasma cell cancer. Tissues involved in EBV+ disease typically show foci of EBV+ cells with the appearance of rapidly proliferating immature or poorly differentiated plasma cells. The cells express products of EBV genes such as EBER1 and EBER2. While the EBV contributes to the development and/or progression of most Epstein–Barr virus-associated lymphoproliferatve diseases, its role in multiple myeloma is not known. However, people who are EBV-positive with localized plasmacytoma(s) are more likely to progress to multiple myeloma compared to people with EBV-negative plasmacytoma(s). This suggest that EBV may have a role in the progression of plasmacytomas to systemic multiple myeloma.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: B lymphocytes start in the bone marrow and move to the lymph nodes. As they progress, they mature and display different proteins on their cell surfaces. When they are activated to secrete antibodies, they are known as plasma cells.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Multiple myeloma develops in B lymphocytes after they have left the part of the lymph node known as the germinal center. The normal cell type most closely associated with MM cells is generally taken to be either an activated memory B cell or the precursor to plasma cells, the plasmablast.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: The immune system keeps the proliferation of B cells and the secretion of antibodies under tight control. When chromosomes and genes are damaged, often through rearrangement, this control is lost. Often, a promoter gene moves (or translocates) to a chromosome, where it stimulates an antibody gene to overproduction.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: A chromosomal translocation between the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene (on chromosome 14, locus q32) and an oncogene (often 11q13, 4p16.3, 6p21, 16q23 and 20q11) is frequently observed in people with multiple myeloma. This mutation results in dysregulation of the oncogene which is thought to be an important initiating event in the pathogenesis of myeloma. The result is a proliferation of a plasma cell clone and genomic instability that leads to further mutations and translocations. The chromosome 14 abnormality is observed in about 50% of all cases of myeloma. Deletion of (parts of) chromosome 13 is also observed in about 50% of cases.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Production of cytokines (especially IL-6) by the plasma cells causes much of their localised damage, such as osteoporosis, and creates a microenvironment in which the malignant cells thrive. Angiogenesis (the generation of new blood vessels) is increased.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: The produced antibodies are deposited in various organs, leading to kidney failure, polyneuropathy, and various other myeloma-associated symptoms.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: In a study that investigated the DNA methylation profile of multiple myeloma cells and normal plasma cells, a gradual demethylation from stem cells to plasma cells was observed. The observed methylation pattern of CpG within intronic regions with enhancer-related chromatin marks in multiple myeloma is similar to undifferentiated precursor and stem cells. These results may represent a "de novo" epigenetic reprogramming in multiple myeloma, leading to the acquisition of a methylation pattern related to stemness. Other studies have identified a multiple myeloma specific gene silencing pattern associated with the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2). Increased expression of the PRC2 subunit, EZH2 have been described to be a common feature in multiple myeloma, resulting in an accumulation and redistribution of histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation which advances with disease severity.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Chromosomal abnormalities commonly found in this disease, like trisomy of multiple odd-numbered chromosomes, t(11;14), and del(13q), are not associated with a worse prognosis. However, about 25% of patients with newly diagnosed disease have abnormalities associated with a worse prognosis, like t(4;14), t(14;16), and del(17p). Other less common abnormalities associated with a worse prognosis include t(14;20) and ≥4 copies of 1q.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: The genetic and epigenetic changes occur progressively. The initial change, often involving one chromosome 14 translocation, establishes a clone of bone marrow plasma cells that causes the asymptomatic disorder MGUS, which is a premalignant disorder characterized by increased numbers of plasma cells in the bone marrow or the circulation of a myeloma protein immunoglobulin. Further genetic or epigenic changes produce a new clone of bone marrow plasma cells, usually descendant from the original clone, that causes the more serious, but still asymptomatic premalignant disorder smoldering multiple myeloma. This myeloma is characterized by a rise in the number of bone marrow plasma cells or levels of the circulating myeloma protein above that seen in MGUS.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Subsequent genetic and epigenetic changes lead to a new, more aggressive clone of plasma cells, which cause further rises in the level of the circulating myeloma protein, further rises in the number of bone marrow plasma cells, or the development of one or more of a specific set of "CRAB" symptoms, which are the basis for diagnosing malignant multiple myeloma and treating the disease.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: In a small percentage of multiple myeloma cases, further genetic and epigenetic changes lead to the development of a plasma cell clone that moves from the bone marrow into the circulatory system, invades distant tissues, and thereby causes the most malignant of all plasma cell dyscrasias, plasma cell leukemia. Thus, a fundamental genetic instability in plasma cells or their precursors leads to the progression:


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance → smoldering multiple myeloma → multiple myeloma → plasma cell leukemia


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Being asymptomatic, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and smoldering multiple myeloma are typically diagnosed fortuitously by detecting a myeloma protein on serum protein electrophoresis tests done for other purposes. MGUS is a relatively stable condition afflicting 3% of people aged 50 and 5% of people aged 70; it progresses to multiple myeloma at a rate of 0.5–1% cases per year; smoldering multiple myeloma does so at a rate of 10% per year for the first 5 years, but then falls off sharply to 3% per year for the next 5 years and thereafter to 1% per year.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: The globulin level may be normal in established disease. A doctor may request protein electrophoresis of the blood and urine, which might show the presence of a paraprotein (monoclonal protein, or M protein) band, with or without reduction of the other (normal) immunoglobulins (known as immune paresis). One type of paraprotein is the Bence Jones protein, which is a urinary paraprotein composed of free light chains. Quantitative measurements of the paraprotein are necessary to establish a diagnosis and to monitor the disease. The paraprotein is an abnormal immunoglobulin produced by the tumor clone.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: In theory, multiple myeloma can produce all classes of immunoglobulin, but IgG paraproteins are most common, followed by IgA and IgM. IgD and IgE myeloma are very rare. In addition, light and or heavy chains (the building blocks of antibodies) may be secreted in isolation: κ- or λ-light chains or any of the five types of heavy chains (α-, γ-, δ-, ε- or μ-heavy chains). People without evidence of a monoclonal protein may have "nonsecretory" myeloma (not producing immunoglobulins); this represents about 3% of all people with multiple myeloma.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Additional findings may include a raised calcium level (when osteoclasts are breaking down bone, releasing it into the bloodstream), raised serum creatinine level due to reduced kidney function, which is mainly due to casts of paraprotein deposition in the kidney, although the cast may also contain complete immunoglobulins, Tamm-Horsfall protein and albumin.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Other useful laboratory tests include quantitative measurement of IgA, IgG, and IgM to look for immune paresis, and beta-2 microglobulin, which provides prognostic information. On peripheral blood smear, the rouleaux formation of red blood cells is commonly seen, though this is not specific.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: The recent introduction of a commercial immunoassay for measurement of free light chains potentially offers an improvement in monitoring disease progression and response to treatment, particularly where the paraprotein is difficult to measure accurately by electrophoresis (for example in light chain myeloma, or where the paraprotein level is very low). Initial research also suggests that measurement of free light chains may also be used, in conjunction with other markers, for assessment of the risk of progression from MGUS to multiple myeloma.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: This assay, the serum free light chain assay, has recently been recommended by the International Myeloma Working Group for the screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of plasma cell dyscrasias.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: A bone marrow biopsy is usually performed to estimate the percentage of bone marrow occupied by plasma cells. This percentage is used in the diagnostic criteria for myeloma. Immunohistochemistry (staining particular cell types using antibodies against surface proteins) can detect plasma cells that express immunoglobulin in the cytoplasm and occasionally on the cell surface; myeloma cells are often CD56, CD38, CD138, and CD319 positive and CD19, CD20, and CD45 negative. Flow cytometry is often used to establish the clonal nature of the plasma cells, which will generally express only kappa or lambda light chain. Cytogenetics may also be performed in myeloma for prognostic purposes, including a myeloma-specific fluorescent "in situ" hybridization and virtual karyotype.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: The plasma cells seen in multiple myeloma have several possible morphologies. First, they could have the appearance of a normal plasma cell, a large cell two or three times the size of a peripheral lymphocyte. Because they are actively producing antibodies, the Golgi apparatus typically produces a light-colored area adjacent to the nucleus, called a perinuclear halo. The single nucleus (with inside a single nucleolus with vesicular nuclear chromatin) is eccentric, displaced by an abundant cytoplasm.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Historically, the CD138 has been used to isolate myeloma cells for diagnostic purposes. However, this antigen disappears rapidly "ex vivo". Recently, however, the surface antigen CD319 (SLAMF7) was discovered to be considerably more stable and allows robust isolation of malignant plasma cells from delayed or even cryopreserved samples.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: The prognosis varies widely depending upon various risk factors. The Mayo Clinic has developed a risk-stratification model termed Mayo Stratification for Myeloma and Risk-adapted Therapy (mSMART), which divides people into high-risk and standard-risk categories. People with deletion of chromosome 13 or hypodiploidy by conventional cytogenetics, t(4;14), t(14;16), t(14;20) or 17p- by molecular genetic studies, or with a high plasma cell labeling index (3% or more) are considered to have high-risk myeloma.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: The diagnostic examination of a person with suspected multiple myeloma typically includes a skeletal survey. This is a series of X-rays of the skull, axial skeleton, and proximal long bones. Myeloma activity sometimes appears as "lytic lesions" (with local disappearance of normal bone due to resorption). And on the skull X-ray as "punched-out lesions" (raindrop skull). Lesions may also be sclerotic, which is seen as radiodense. Overall, the radiodensity of myeloma is between −30 and 120 Hounsfield units (HU). Magnetic resonance imaging is more sensitive than simple X-rays in the detection of lytic lesions, and may supersede a skeletal survey, especially when vertebral disease is suspected. Occasionally, a CT scan is performed to measure the size of soft-tissue plasmacytomas. Bone scans are typically not of any additional value in the workup of people with myeloma (no new bone formation; lytic lesions not well visualized on bone scan).


title: Multiple myeloma

text: In 2003, the IMG agreed on diagnostic criteria for symptomatic myeloma, asymptomatic myeloma, and MGUS, which was subsequently updated in 2009:


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Note: Recurrent infections alone in a person who has none of the CRAB features is not sufficient to make the diagnosis of myeloma. People who lack CRAB features, but have evidence of amyloidosis, should be considered as amyloidosis and not myeloma. CRAB-like abnormalities are common with numerous diseases, and these abnormalities must be felt to be directly attributable to the related plasma cell disorder and every attempt made to rule out other underlying causes of anemia, kidney failure, etc.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: In 2014, the IMWG updated their criteria further to include biomarkers of malignancy. These biomarkers are >60% clonal plasma cells, a serum involved / uninvolved free light chain ratio ≥ 100 (the concentration of the involved free light chain must be ≥ 100 mg/L) and more than one focal lesion ≥ 5 mm by MRI. Together, these biomarkers and the CRAB criteria are known as myeloma-defining events (MDEs). A person must have >10 % clonal plasma cells and any MDE to be diagnosed with myeloma. The biomarker criteria were added so that smouldering people with multiple myeloma at high risk of developing multiple myeloma could be diagnosed before organ damage occurred, so they would therefore have a better prognosis.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Related conditions include solitary plasmacytoma (a single tumor of plasma cells, typically treated with irradiation), plasma cell dyscrasia (where only the antibodies produce symptoms, e.g., AL amyloidosis), and peripheral neuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal plasma cell disorder, and skin changes.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: In multiple myeloma, staging helps with prognostication but does not guide treatment decisions. The Durie-Salmon staging system was used historically and was replaced by the International Staging System (ISS), published by the International Myeloma Working Group In 2005. The revised ISS (R-ISS) was published in 2015 and incorporates cytogenetics and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH).


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Treatment is indicated in myeloma with symptoms. If there are no symptoms, but a paraprotein typical of myeloma and diagnostic bone marrow is present without end-organ damage, treatment is usually deferred or restricted to clinical trials. Treatment for multiple myeloma is focused on decreasing the clonal plasma cell population and consequently decrease the symptoms of disease.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: The preferred treatment for those under the age of 65 is high-dose chemotherapy, commonly with bortezomib-based regimens, and lenalidomide–dexamethasone, to be followed by a stem cell transplant. A 2016 study concluded that stem cell transplant is the preferred treatment of multiple myeloma. There are two types of stem cell transplants to treat multiple myeloma. In autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) – the patient's own stem cells are collected from the patient's own blood. The patient is given high-dose chemotherapy, and the patient's stem cells are then transplanted back into the patient. The process is not curative, but does prolong overall survival and complete remission. In allogeneic stem-cell transplantation, a healthy donor's stem cells are transplanted into the affected person. Allogenic stem-cell transplantation has the potential for a cure, but is used in a very small percentage of people (and in the relapsed setting, not as part of initial treatment). Furthermore, a 5–10% treatment-associated mortality rate is associated with allogeneic stem-cell transplant.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: People over age 65 and people with significant concurrent illnesses often cannot tolerate stem-cell transplantation. For these people, the standard of care has been chemotherapy with melphalan and prednisone. Recent studies among this population suggest improved outcomes with new chemotherapy regimens, e.g., with bortezomib. Treatment with bortezomib, melphalan, and prednisone had an estimated overall survival of 83% at 30 months, lenalidomide plus low-dose dexamethasone an 82% survival at 2 years, and melphalan, prednisone, and lenalidomide had a 90% survival at 2 years. Head-to-head studies comparing these regimens have not been performed .


title: Multiple myeloma

text: There is support for continuous therapies with multiple drug combinations of antimyeloma drugs bortezomib, lenalidomide and thalidomide as initial treatment for transplant-ineligible multiple myeloma. Further clinical studies are required to determine the potential harms of these drugs and the effect on the person's quality of life. A 2009 review noted, "Deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism are the major side effects of


title: Multiple myeloma

text: thalidomide and lenalidomide. Lenalidomide causes more myelosuppression, and thalidomide causes more sedation. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and thrombocytopenia are major side effects of bortezomib."


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Treatment of related hyperviscosity syndrome may be required to prevent neurologic symptoms or kidney failure.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Most people, including those treated with ASCT, relapse after initial treatment. Maintenance therapy using a prolonged course of low-toxicity medications is often used to prevent relapse. A 2017 meta-analysis showed that post-ASCT maintenance therapy with lenalidomide improved progression-free survival and overall survival in people at standard risk. A 2012 clinical trial showed that people with intermediate- and high-risk disease benefit from a bortezomib-based maintenance regimen.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Reasons for relapse include disease evolution, either from the selective pressure applied by treatment or by de novo mutations and/or if disease was inadequately represented in the initial biopsy. Relapse within the first 18 months of diagnosis is considered as functional high-risk multiple myeloma. Depending on the person's condition, the prior treatment modalities used and the duration of remission, options for relapsed disease include retreatment with the original agent, use of other agents (such as melphalan, cyclophosphamide, thalidomide, or dexamethasone, alone or in combination), and a second ASCT.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Later in the course of the disease, it becomes refractory (resistant) to formerly effective treatment. This stage is referred to as relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). Treatment modalities that are commonly use to treat RRMM include dexamethasone, proteasome inhibitors (e.g. bortezomib and carfilzomib), immunomodulatory imide drugs (e.g. thalidomide, lenalidomide, and pomalidomide), and certain monoclonal antibodies (e.g. against CD38 and CD319). Survival expectancy has risen in recent years, and new treatments are under development.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Kidney failure in multiple myeloma can be acute (reversible) or chronic (irreversible). Acute kidney failure typically resolves when the calcium and paraprotein levels are brought under control. Treatment of chronic kidney failure is dependent on the type of kidney failure and may involve dialysis.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Stem cell transplant can be used to treat multiple myeloma. Stem cell transplants come with a risk of a graft-versus-host-disease. Mesenchymal stromal cells may reduce the all-cause mortality if they are used for a therapeutic reason and the therapeutic use of MSCs may increase the complete response of acute and chronic GvHD, but the evidence is very uncertain. The evidence suggests that MSCs for prophylactic reason result in little to no difference in the all-cause mortality, in the relapse of malignant diseases and in the incidence of acute GvHD. The evidence suggests that MSCs for prophylactic reason reduce the incidence of chronic GvHD.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: In addition to direct treatment of the plasma cell proliferation, bisphosphonates (e.g., pamidronate or zoledronic acid) are routinely administered to prevent fractures; they have also been observed to have a direct antitumor effect even in people without known skeletal disease. If needed, red blood cell transfusions or erythropoietin can be used for management of anemia.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Chemotherapies and stem cell transplants can cause unwanted bleedings and may require platelet transfusions. It was seen that platelet transfusions for people undergoing a chemotherapy or a stem cell transplantation for the prevention of bleeding events had different effects on the number of participants with a bleeding event, the number of days on which a bleeding occurred, the mortality secondary to bleeding and the number of platelet transfusions depending on the way they were used (therapeutic, depending on a threshold, different dose schedules or prophylactic).


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Adding physical exercises to the standard treatment for adult patients with haematological malignancies like multiple myeloma may result in little to no difference in the mortality, in the quality of life and in the physical functioning. These exercises may result in a slight reduction in depression. Furthermore, aerobic physical exercises probably reduce fatigue. The evidence is very uncertain about the effect and serious adverse events


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Multiple national cancer treatment guidelines recommend early palliative care for people with advanced multiple myeloma at the time of diagnosis and for anyone who has significant symptoms.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Palliative care is appropriate at any stage of multiple myeloma and can be provided alongside curative treatment. In addition to addressing symptoms of cancer, palliative care helps manage unwanted side effects, such as pain and nausea related to treatments.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Oral prophylaxis, hygiene instruction and elimination of sources of infection within the mouth before beginning cancer treatment, can reduce the risk of infectious complications. Before starting bisphosphonates therapy, the person's dental health should be evaluated to assess the risk factors to prevent the development of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ). If there are any symptoms or radiographic appearance of MRONJ like jaw pain, loose tooth, mucosal swelling, early referral to an oral surgeon is recommended. Dental extractions should be avoided during the active period of treatment and treat the tooth with nonsurgical root canal treatment instead.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Overall the 5-year survival rate is around 54% in the United States. With high-dose therapy followed by ASCT, the median survival has been estimated in 2003 to be about 4.5 years, compared to a median around 3.5 years with "standard" therapy.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: The international staging system can help to predict survival, with a median survival (in 2005) of 62 months for stage-1 disease, 45 months for stage-2 disease, and 29 months for stage-3 disease. The median age at diagnosis is 69 years.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: SNP array karyotyping can detect copy number alterations of prognostic significance that may be missed by a targeted FISH panel.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: The following table outlines the prognostic effect of various genetic findings in multiple myeloma, with chromosomal translocations designated t, followed by standard nomenclature thereof:


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Globally, multiple myeloma affected 488,000 people and resulted in 101,100 deaths in 2015. This is up from 49,000 in 1990.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: In the United States in 2016, an estimated 30,330 new cases and 12,650 deaths were reported. These numbers are based on assumptions made using data from 2011, which estimated the number of people affected as 83,367 people, the number of new cases as 6.1 per 100,000 people per year, and the mortality as 3.4 per 100,000 people per year.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Multiple myeloma is the second-most prevalent blood cancer (10%) after non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. It represents about 1.8% of all new cancers and 2.1% of all cancer deaths.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Multiple myeloma affects slightly more men than women. African Americans and native Pacific Islanders have the highest reported number of new cases of this disease in the United States and Asians the lowest. Results of one study found the number of new cases of myeloma to be 9.5 cases per 100,000 African Americans and 4.1 cases per 100,000 Caucasian Americans. Among African Americans, myeloma is one of the top-10 causes of cancer death.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: Myeloma is the 17th-most common cancer in the UK: around 4,800 people were diagnosed with the disease in 2011. It is the 16th-most common cause of cancer death: around 2,700 people died of it in 2012.


title: Multiple myeloma

text: In dogs, multiple myeloma accounts for around 8% of all haemopoietic tumors. Multiple myeloma occurs in older dogs and is not particularly associated with either males or females. No breeds appear overrepresented in case reviews that have been conducted. Diagnosis in dogs is usually delayed due to the initial nonspecificity and range of clinical signs possible. Diagnosis usually involves bone-marrow studies, X-rays, and plasma-protein studies. In dogs, protein studies usually reveal the monoclonal gammaglobulin elevation to be IgA or IgG in equal number of cases. In rare cases the globulin elevation is IgM, which is referred to as Waldenström's macroglobulinemia. The prognosis for initial control and return to good quality of life in dogs is good; 43% of dogs started on a combination chemotherapeutic protocol achieved complete remission. Long-term survival is normal, with a median of 540 days reported. The disease eventually recurs, becoming resistant to available therapies. The complications of kidney failure, sepsis, or pain can lead to an animal's death, frequently by euthanasia.


title: World of Warcraft

text: World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the "Warcraft" fantasy universe, "World of Warcraft" takes place within the world of Azeroth, approximately four years after the events of the previous game in the series, "." The game was announced in 2001, and was released for the 10th anniversary of the "Warcraft" franchise on November 23, 2004. Since launch, "World of Warcraft" has had nine major expansion packs: "The Burning Crusade" (2007), "Wrath of the Lich King" (2008), "" (2010), "Mists of Pandaria" (2012), "Warlords of Draenor" (2014), "" (2016), "Battle for Azeroth" (2018), "" (2020), and "" (2022).


title: World of Warcraft

text: Similar to other MMORPGs, the game allows players to create a character avatar and explore an open game world in third- or first-person view, exploring the landscape, fighting various monsters, completing quests, and interacting with non-player characters (NPCs) or other players. The game encourages players to work together to complete quests, enter dungeons and engage in player versus player (PvP) combat, however, the game can also be played solo without interacting with others. The game primarily focuses on character progression, in which players earn experience points to level up their character to make them more powerful and buy and sell items using in-game currency to acquire better equipment, among other game systems.


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" was a major critical and commercial success upon its original release in 2004 and quickly became the most popular MMORPG of all time, reaching a peak of 12 million subscribers in 2010. The game had over one hundred million registered accounts by 2014 and by 2017, had grossed over in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing video game franchises of all time. The game has been cited by gaming journalists as the greatest MMORPG of all time and one of the greatest video games of all time and has also been noted for its long lifespan, continuing to receive developer support and expansion packs over 15 years since its initial release. In 2019, a vanilla version of the game titled "World of Warcraft Classic" was launched, allowing players to experience the base game before any of its expansions launched, with versions of "Classic" for the second and third expansions being released subsequently, with minor changes. In 2022, Blizzard and NetEase cancelled an unannounced "World of Warcraft" mobile spin-off game.


title: World of Warcraft

text: As with other MMORPGs, players control a character avatar within a game world in third- or first-person view, exploring the landscape, fighting various monsters, completing quests, and interacting with non-player characters (NPCs) or other players. Also similar to other MMORPGs, "World of Warcraft" requires the player to pay for a subscription by using a credit or debit card, using prepaid Blizzard game cards or using a WoW Token purchased in-game. Players without a subscription may use a trial account that lets the player character reach up to level 20 but has many features locked.


title: World of Warcraft

text: To enter the game, the player must select a server, referred to in-game as a 'realm'. Each realm acts as an individual copy of the game world and falls into one of two categories. Available realms types are:


title: World of Warcraft

text: Before the introduction of World of Warcraft's seventh expansion "Battle for Azeroth", both "Normal" and "RP" servers were each divided into two separate categories: PvE servers and PvP servers. This has since been removed after the implementation of the "War Mode" option, which allows any player (of level 20 and higher) on any server to determine whether they want to actively participate in PvP combat or not, by enabling War Mode in two of the game's capital cities.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Players can make new characters on all realms within the region, and it is also possible to move already established characters between realms for a fee.


title: World of Warcraft

text: To create a new character, in keeping with the storyline of previous "Warcraft" games, players must choose between the opposing factions of the Alliance or the Horde; Pandaren, which were added in "", do not commit to a faction until after the starting zone is completed. Characters from the opposing factions can perform rudimentary communication (most often just "emotes"), but only members of the same faction can speak, mail, group and join guilds. The player selects the new character's race, such as orcs or trolls for the Horde, or humans or dwarves for the Alliance. Players must select the class for the character, with choices such as mages, warriors, and priests available. Most classes are limited to particular races.


title: World of Warcraft

text: As characters become more developed, they gain various talents and skills, requiring the player to further define the abilities of that character. Characters can choose two primary professions that can focus on producing items, such as tailoring, blacksmithing or jewelcrafting or on gathering from resource nodes, such as skinning or mining. Characters can learn all three secondary skills: archeology, cooking, and fishing. Characters may form and join guilds, allowing characters within the guild access to the guild's chat channel, the guild name and optionally allowing other features, including a guild tabard, guild bank, guild repairs, and dues.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Much of "World of Warcraft" play involves the completion of quests. These quests are usually available from NPCs. Quests usually reward the player with some combination of experience points, items, and in-game money. Quests allow characters to gain access to new skills and abilities, as well as the ability to explore new areas. It is through quests that much of the game's story is told, both through the quest's text and through scripted NPC actions. Quests are linked by a common theme, with each consecutive quest triggered by the completion of the previous, forming a quest chain. Quests commonly involve killing a number of creatures, gathering a certain number of resources, finding a difficult to locate object, speaking to various NPCs, visiting specific locations, interacting with objects in the world, or delivering an item from one place to another to acquire experience and treasures.


title: World of Warcraft

text: While a character can be played on its own, players can group with others to tackle more challenging content. Most end-game challenges are designed in such a way that they can only be overcome while in a group. In this way, character classes are used in specific roles within a group. "World of Warcraft" uses a "rested bonus" system, increasing the rate that a character can gain experience points after the player has spent time away from the game. When a character dies, it becomes a ghost—or wisp for Night Elf characters—at a nearby graveyard. Characters can be resurrected by other characters that have the ability or can self-resurrect by moving from the graveyard to the place where they died. If a character is past level ten and they resurrect at a graveyard, the items equipped by the character degrade, requiring in-game money and a specialist NPC to repair them. Items that have degraded heavily become unusable until they are repaired. If the location of the character's body is unreachable, they can use a special "spirit healer" NPC to resurrect at the graveyard. When the spirit healer revives a character, items equipped by the character at that time are further degraded, and the character is significantly weakened by what is in-game called "resurrection sickness" for up to ten minutes, depending on the character's level. This "resurrection sickness" does not occur and item degradation is less severe if the character revives by locating its body, or is resurrected by another player through spells or special items.


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" contains a variety of mechanisms for player versus player (PvP) play. Players on player versus environment (PvE) servers can opt to "flag" themselves, making themselves attackable to players of the opposite faction. Depending on the mode of the realm, PvP combat between members of opposing factions is possible at almost any time or location in the game world—the only exception being the starting zones, where the PvP "flag" must be enabled by the player wishing to fight against players of the opposite faction. PvE (called normal or RP) servers, by contrast, allow a player to choose whether or not to engage in combat against other players. On both server types, there are special areas of the world where free-for-all combat is permitted. Battlegrounds, for example, are similar to dungeons: only a set number of characters can enter a single battleground, but additional copies of the battleground can be made to accommodate additional players. Each battleground has a set objective, such as capturing a flag or defeating an opposing general, that must be completed to win the battleground. Competing in battlegrounds rewards the character with tokens and honor points that can be used to buy armor, weapons, and other general items that can aid a player in many areas of the game. Winning a battleground awards more honor and tokens than losing. In addition, players also earn honor when they or nearby teammates kill players in a battleground.


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" is set in the same universe as the "Warcraft" series of real-time strategy games and has a similar art direction. "World of Warcraft" contains elements from fantasy, steampunk, and science fiction, including gryphons, dragons, elves, steam-powered automata, zombies, werewolves, other horror monsters, time travel, spaceships, and alien worlds.


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" takes place in a 3D representation of the "Warcraft" universe that players can interact with through their characters. The game world initially consisted of the two continents in Azeroth: Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. Four separate expansions later added to the game's playable area the realms of Outland and Draenor and the continents of Northrend and Pandaria. As a player explores new locations, different routes and means of transportation become available. Players can access "flight masters" in newly discovered locations to fly to previously discovered locations in other parts of the world. Players can also use boats, zeppelins, or portals to move from one continent to another. Although the game world remains relatively similar from day to day, seasonal events reflecting real world events, such as Halloween (Hallow's End), Christmas (Winter Veil), Children's Week, Easter (Noblegarden), and Midsummer have been represented in the game world. Locations also have variable weather including, among other things, rain, snow, and dust storms.


title: World of Warcraft

text: A number of facilities are available for characters while in towns and cities. In each major city, characters can access a bank to deposit items, such as treasures or crafted items. Each character has access to personal bank storage with the option to purchase additional storage space using in-game gold. Additionally, guild banks are available for use by members of a guild with restrictions being set by the guild leader. Auction houses are available for players to buy and sell items to others in a similar way to online auction sites such as eBay. Players can use mailboxes, which can be found in almost every town. Mailboxes are used to collect items won at auction, and to send messages, items, and in-game money to other characters.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Some of the challenges in "World of Warcraft" require players to group together to complete them. These usually take place in dungeons—also known as "instances"—that a group of characters can enter together. The term "instance" comes from each group or party having a separate copy, or instance, of the dungeon, complete with their own enemies to defeat and their own treasure or rewards. This allows a group to explore areas and complete quests without others interfering. Dungeons are spread over the game world and are designed for characters of varying progression. A typical dungeon will allow up to five characters to enter as part of a group. Some dungeons require more players to group together and form a "raid" of up to forty players to face some of the most difficult challenges. As well as dungeon-based raid challenges, several creatures exist in the normal game environment that are designed for raids to attack.


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" requires a subscription to allow continued play, with options to pay in one-month, three-month, or six-month blocks, and time cards of varying lengths available from retailers, or purchasing a "WoW Token" using in-game currency. Expansion packs are available online and from retailers. As the game client is the same regardless of the version of "World of Warcraft" the user owns, the option to purchase expansions online was added as it allows for a quick upgrade. "World of Warcraft" is also available as a free Starter Edition, which is free to play for an unlimited amount of time. Starter Edition characters are unable to gain experience after reaching level 20, and there are other restrictions in effect for Starter Edition accounts, including the inability to trade, use mail, use Auction House, use public chat channels, join guilds or amass more than ten gold.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In January 2015, accounts that have lapsed subscriptions, which previously would not let a player log in, work like a restricted Starter Edition account with the one difference that sub-level 20 characters will be able to join a guild if any other characters on the account are still in that guild.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In April 2015, an alternate way to cover the subscription was introduced. A player may spend real money ($20 in North America and differing amounts in other regions) on a WoW Token, which is sold on the auction house for the in-game currency, gold, that initially could only be used to add 30 days of playtime. At the launch of the feature in North America, a token sold for 30,000 gold and 24 hours later sold for 20,000 gold; therefore, the gold amount changes depending on what players are willing to spend. Subsequently, the amount that a North American token sells for remained at above 30,000 gold, and the other Battle.net regions were well above that value. Once a player buys a token on the auction house, it is account bound and cannot be resold. As of February 2017, the WoW Token can also be exchanged for $15 in Battle.net balance that can be used as credit for purchases in most of Blizzard's games as well as in "Destiny 2".


title: World of Warcraft

text: The company offers parental controls that allow various limits to be set on playing time. It is possible to set a daily limit, a weekly limit, or to specify an allowed playing schedule. In order to control these settings, it is necessary to log in with different credentials than are used just to enter the game. It is also possible to receive statistics on the time spent playing. Apart from controlling children, adults sometimes use parental controls on themselves. The company supports this kind of protection as otherwise the potential players or their supervisors may choose to uninstall or block the game permanently.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Intent on settling in Durotar, Thrall's Horde expanded its ranks by inviting the undead Forsaken to join orcs, tauren, and trolls. Meanwhile, dwarves, gnomes, and the ancient night elves pledged their loyalties to the Alliance, guided by the human kingdom of Stormwind. After Stormwind's king, Varian Wrynn, mysteriously disappeared, Highlord Bolvar Fordragon served as Regent but his service was affected by the mind control of the black dragon Onyxia, who ruled in disguise as a human noblewoman. As heroes investigated Onyxia's manipulations, the ancient elemental lord Ragnaros resurfaced to endanger both the Horde and Alliance. The heroes of the Horde and Alliance defeated Onyxia and sent Ragnaros back to the Elemental Plane.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Deep within Blackrock Mountain, the black dragon Nefarian conducted twisted experiments with the blood of other dragonflights. Intent on seizing the entire area for his own, he recruited the remaining Dark Horde, a rogue army that embraced the demonic bloodlust of the old Horde. These corrupt orcs, trolls, and other races battled against Ragnaros and the Dark Iron dwarves for control of the mountain. Nefarian created the twisted chromatic dragons and a legion of other aberrations in his bid to form an army powerful enough to control Azeroth and continue the legacy of his infamous father, Deathwing the Destroyer. Nefarian was vanquished by the heroes from the Horde and the Alliance.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Years ago, in the ruined temple of Atal'Hakkar, loyal priests of the Blood God Hakkar the Soulflayer attempted to summon the wrathful deity's avatar into the world. But his followers, the Atal'ai priesthood, discovered that the Soulflayer could only be summoned within the Gurubashi tribe's ancient capital, Zul'Gurub. Newly reborn in this jungle fortress, Hakkar took control of the Gurubashi tribe and mortal champions of the trolls' mighty animal gods. The Soulflayer's dark influence was halted when the Zandalari tribe recruited heroes and invaded Zul'Gurub.


title: World of Warcraft

text: The great desert fortress of Ahn'Qiraj, long sealed behind the Scarab Wall, was home to the insectoid qiraji, a savage race that had once mounted an assault to devastate the continent of Kalimdor. But something far more sinister lurked behind Ahn'Qiraj's walls: the Old God C'Thun, an ancient entity whose pervasive evil had suffused Azeroth since time immemorial. As C'Thun incited the qiraji to frenzy, both the Alliance and Horde prepared for a massive war effort. A mixed force of Alliance and Horde soldiers, dubbed the Might of Kalimdor, opened the gates of Ahn'Qiraj under the command of the orc Varok Saurfang. The heroes laid siege to the ruins and temples of Ahn'Qiraj and vanquished C'Thun.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In the Lich King's haste to spread the plague of undeath over Azeroth, he gifted one of his greatest servants, the lich Kel'Thuzad, with the flying citadel of Naxxramas, as a base of operations for the Scourge. Consistent attacks from the Scarlet Crusade and Argent Dawn factions weakened the defenses of the floating fortress, enabling an incursion from the heroes that led to Kel'Thuzad's defeat. However, a traitor among the ranks of the knightly order of the Argent Dawn ran away with Kel'Thuzad's cursed remains and fled to Northrend, where the fallen lich could be reanimated.


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" was first announced by Blizzard at the ECTS trade show in September 2001. Released in 2004, development of the game took roughly 4–5 years, including extensive testing. The 3D graphics in "World of Warcraft" use elements of the proprietary graphics engine originally used in "Warcraft III". The game was designed to be an open environment where players are allowed to do what they please. Quests are optional and were designed to help guide players, allow character development, and to spread characters across different zones to try to avoid what developers called "player collision". The game interface allows players to customize appearance and controls, and to install add-ons and other modifications.


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" runs natively on both Macintosh and Windows platforms. Boxed copies of the game use a hybrid CD to install the game, eliminating the need for separate Mac and Windows retail products. The game allows all users to play together, regardless of their operating system. Although there is no official version for any other platform, support for "World of Warcraft" is present in Windows API implementations Wine and CrossOver allowing the game to be played under Linux and FreeBSD. While a native Linux client is neither released nor announced by Blizzard, in January 2011 IT journalist Michael Larabel indicated in a Phoronix article that an internal Linux client might exist but is not released due to the non-standardization of the Linux distro ecosystem.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In the United States, Canada, and Europe, Blizzard distributes "World of Warcraft" via retail software packages. The software package includes 30 days of gameplay for no additional cost. To continue playing after the initial 30 days, additional play time must be purchased using a credit card or prepaid game card. The minimum gameplay duration that a player can purchase is 30 days using a credit card, or 60 using a prepaid game card. A player also has the option of purchasing three or six months of gameplay at once for a 6–15% discount. In Australia, the United States, and many European countries, video game stores commonly stock the trial version of "World of Warcraft" in DVD form, which includes the game and 20 levels of gameplay, after which the player would have to upgrade to a retail account by supplying a valid credit card, or purchasing a game card as well as a retail copy of the game.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In Brazil, "World of Warcraft" was released on December 6, 2011, via BattleNet. The first three expansions are currently available, fully translated, including voice acting, into Brazilian Portuguese.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In South Korea, there is no software package or CD key requirement to activate the account. However, to play the game, players must purchase time credits online. There are two kinds of time credits available: one where the player is billed based on the actual number of minutes that will be available, and one where the player can play the game for a number of days. In the former, time can be purchased in multiples of 5 hours or 30 hours, and in the latter, time can be purchased in multiples of 7 days, 1 month, or 3 months. As software packages are not required, expansion pack contents are available to all players on launch day.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In China, because a large number of players do not own the computer on which they play games (e.g. if they play in Internet cafés), the CD keys required to create an account can be purchased independently of the software package. To play the game, players must also purchase prepaid game cards that can be played for 66 hours and 40 minutes. A monthly fee model is not available to players of this region. The Chinese government and NetEase, the licensee for "World of Warcraft" in China, have imposed a modification on Chinese versions of the game which places flesh on bare-boned skeletons and transforms dead character corpses into tidy graves. These changes were imposed by the Chinese government in an attempt to "promote a healthy and harmonious online game environment" in "World of Warcraft". The Chinese government delayed the release of the "Wrath of the Lich King" expansion, due to what it deemed objectionable content. NetEase took over licensing of "World of Warcraft" from The9 in June 2009 following the expiration of The9's contract, and were able to secure a launch for "Wrath of the Lich King" on August 31, 2010, nearly two years after its Western release.


title: World of Warcraft

text: The "World of Warcraft" launcher (referred to in press releases and the menu bar as the "Blizzard Launcher") is a program designed to act as a starting point for "World of Warcraft" players. It provides a way to launch "World of Warcraft" and starts the Blizzard updater. It was first included with the version 1.8.3 patch. The 2.1.0 patch allowed for an option to bypass the use of the launcher. Features of the launcher include news and updates for "World of Warcraft" players, access to "World of Warcraft"s support website, access to the test version of "World of Warcraft" when it is available to test upcoming patches, updates to Warden, and updates to the updater itself. The 3.0.8 patch redesigned the launcher and added the ability to change the game settings from the launcher itself. The launcher update from patch 4.0.1 also allows people to play the game while non-crucial pieces of the game are downloaded. This requires a high-speed broadband internet connection.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Patch 1.9.3 added native support for Intel-powered Macs, making "World of Warcraft" a universal application. As a result of this, the minimum supported Mac OS X version has been changed to 10.3.9; "World of Warcraft" version 1.9.3 and later will not launch on older versions of Mac OS X. PowerPC architecture Macs are no longer supported since version 4.0.1.


title: World of Warcraft

text: When new content is added to the game, official system requirements may change. In version 1.12.0 the requirements for Windows were increased from requiring 256 MB to 512 MB of RAM. Official Windows 98 technical support was dropped, but the game continued to run there until version 2.2.3. Before Mists of Pandaria in 2012, "World of Warcraft" officially dropped support for Windows 2000, followed by Windows XP and Vista in October 2017, as well as all 32-bit support.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Starting with 4.3, players could try out an experimental 64-bit version of the client, which required manual downloading and copying files into the installation folder. Since 5.0, the 64-bit client is automatically installed, and used by default.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Nine expansions have been released: "", released in January 2007; "", released in November 2008; "", released in December 2010; "", released in September 2012; "", released in November 2014; "", released in August 2016; , released in August 2018; and "", released in November 2020. Players are not required to purchase expansions in order to continue playing; however, new content and features such as higher level caps and new areas may not be available until they do so.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Blizzard routinely applies older expansions to all accounts as new expansions are released. On June 28, 2011, "The Burning Crusade" expansion was automatically applied to all previous "Warcraft" accounts at no cost. On September 19, 2012, the same thing was done with the "Wrath of the Lich King" expansion, and on October 15, 2013, the "Cataclysm" expansion was also applied. On October 15, 2014, "Mists of Pandaria" was applied to all accounts following the release of Warlords. On May 17, 2016, "Warlords of Draenor" was applied to all accounts to coincide with the release of the "Warcraft" movie that gives a 30-day trial of the game.


title: World of Warcraft

text: All "The Burning Crusade", "Wrath of the Lich King", "Cataclysm", "Mists of Pandaria" and "Warlords of Draenor" content is now effectively part of the original game, with all new "World of Warcraft" accounts automatically including these expansions upon creation. As of the pre-patch release of "Battle for Azeroth" in July 2018, all expansions up to "Legion" are included in the base game.


title: World of Warcraft

text: The fifth expansion, "Warlords of Draenor", was announced at BlizzCon 2013 on November 8, 2013, and entered beta on June 27, 2014. "Warlords of Draenor" was released on November 13, 2014. On August 6, 2015, Blizzard announced the sixth expansion, "", at Gamescom 2015. In November 2015, the "Legion" alpha testing started and in April 2016 the beta test started; the "Legion" expansion was released on August 30, 2016. The seventh expansion, "Battle for Azeroth", was released worldwide on August 13 and 14 (depending on location) 2018.


title: World of Warcraft

text: The eighth expansion, "Shadowlands", was announced on November 1, 2019, and released on November 23, 2020.


title: World of Warcraft

text: The ninth expansion, "Dragonfight", was announced on April 19, 2022 and was released on November 28, 2022.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Almost all of the music in World of Warcraft is orchestral, with a wide variety of classical and folk instruments in harmony, often playing widely transformative, non-repetitive melodies. While the player is in game, music is usually playing from a set of tracks composed to match the mood of the type of environment your character is in such as "mountain", "forest", "plains", "jungle", "et cetera"; while some individual zones and cities such as Elwynn Forest and Thunder Bluff are given their own set of tracks. Some environments play different music depending on the time of day you are in them.


title: World of Warcraft

text: The soundtrack for the original release of "World of Warcraft" was composed and arranged by Jason Hayes, Tracy W. Bush, Derek Duke, and Glenn Stafford and conducted by Eímear Noone. Most of the music from the game and the cinematic trailers was released in the official album on November 23, 2004, together with the collector's edition of the game. It is sold separately on one CD in the MP3 format. More music was composed for each of the game's expansions, which were also given their own album releases.


title: World of Warcraft

text: On January 12, 2011, Alfred Publishing produced a sheet music series for vocalists, pianists, strings, and other instruments, "World of Warcraft Sheet Music Anthology" in solo and accompaniment formats with CD. These works include four pages of collectible artwork and vary by number of songs included.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In 2018, a remix of the song from the game, "Hymn of the Firstborn Son", was nominated for "Best Game Music Cover/Remix" at the 16th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards.


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" received very positive reviews upon release, following a period of high anticipation before launch. Although the game follows a similar model to—and was noted for using many familiar concepts from—the role-playing genre, the new approaches to reducing pauses between game encounters were well liked. A common example was the approach to character death. In some previous MMORPGs, a player would suffer a high penalty for character death; in "World of Warcraft", a player is able to recover and start playing quickly. Combat was another area where "downtime", or pauses between play, was reduced. By allowing all character types to recover from damage taken, players can return to combat quickly. Reviewers felt that these changes in pacing would make the genre more accessible to casual players—those who play for short periods of time— while still having "deep" gameplay that would attract players of all levels of interest. The concept of a "rested bonus", or increasing the rate at which a player's character gains experience, was also welcomed as a way for players to quickly catch up with their friends in progression.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Questing was described as an integral part of the game, often being used to continue a storyline or lead the player through the game. The high number of quests in each location was popular, as well as the rewards for completing them. It was felt that the range of quests removed the need for a player to "grind", or carry out repetitive tasks, to advance their character. Quests also require players to explore every section of the game world, potentially causing problems for social gamers or roleplayers seeking somewhere quiet. Quests that required the player to collect items from the corpses of creatures they had killed were also unpopular; the low "drop rate", or chance of finding the items, makes them feel repetitive as a high number of creatures need to be killed to complete the quest. A large number of new players in a particular area meant that there were often no creatures to kill, or that players would have to wait and take turns to kill a particular creature to complete a quest. Some critics mentioned that the lack of quests that required players to group up made the game feel as if it were designed for solo play. Others complained that some dungeon or instanced group quests were not friendly to new players, and could take several hours to complete. Upon release, a small number of quests had software bugs that made them impossible to complete.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Characters were felt to be implemented well, with each class appearing "viable and interesting", having unique and different mechanisms, and each of the races having a distinct look and feel. Character development was also liked, with the talent mechanism offering choice to players, and profession options being praised. Character customization options were felt to be low, but the detail of character models was praised.


title: World of Warcraft

text: The appearance of the game world was praised by critics. Most popular was the fact that a player could run from one end of the continent to the other without having to pause at a "loading screen" while part of the game is retrieved from storage. The environment was described as "breathtaking". Players found it difficult to become lost, and each area in the game world had a distinct look that blended from one to the next. Critics described the environment as "a careful blend of cartoon, fantasy art, and realism". The game was found to run smoothly on a range of computer systems, although some described it as basic, and mentioned that the bloom light rendering effect can blur things. One reviewer described the ability to fly over long stretches of scenery as "very atmospheric". The user interface was liked, being described as "simple", with tooltips helping to get the player started.


title: World of Warcraft

text: The game's audio was well received, particularly the background music. By assigning music to different areas of the game world, reviewers felt that the fantasy style added to the player's immersion, and that the replay value was increased. The sounds and voices used by characters and NPCs, as well as the overall sound effects, were felt to add a "personality" to the game.


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" won several awards from critics upon release, including "Editor's Choice" awards. In addition, it won several annual awards from the media, being described as the best game in the role-playing and MMORPG genres. The graphics and audio were also praised in the annual awards, with the cartoonish style and overall sound makeup being noted. The game was also awarded "Best Mac OS X Entertainment Product" at the 2005 Apple Design Awards. "Computer Games Magazine" named "World of Warcraft" the best computer game of 2004, and the magazine's Steve Bauman described his "feeling that Blizzard has analyzed every element of every existing game, pulled out the best ones, and then lovingly lavished an absurd amount of attention to their implementation." It also won the magazine's "Best Art Direction", "Best Original Music" and "Best Interface" awards.


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" was recognized at the 2005 Spike TV Video Game Awards where it won "Best PC Game", "Best Multiplayer Game", "Best RPG", and "Most Addictive Game". In 2008, "World of Warcraft" was honoured—along with "Neverwinter Nights" and "EverQuest"—at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for advancing the art form of MMORPG games. "GameSpot" named it the best massively multiplayer game of 2004, and nominated it for the publication's "Best Graphics, Artistic" award. In 2009, "Game Informer" ranked "World of Warcraft" 11th on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time". In 2015, the game placed 3rd on USgamer's The 15 Best Games Since 2000 list. In 2015, The Strong National Museum of Play inducted "World of Warcraft" to its World Video Game Hall of Fame.


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" was the best-selling PC game of 2005 and 2006. In the United States, it sold 1.4 million copies ($68.1 million) by August 2006. It was the country's third best-selling computer game between January 2000 and August 2006. On January 22, 2008, "World of Warcraft" had more than 10 million subscribers worldwide, with more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5 million in North America, and about 5.5 million in Asia. At its peak in October 2010 the game had 12 million subscribers. As of November 2014 the game has over 10 million active subscribers. On January 28, 2014, Blizzard announced that 100 million accounts have been created for the game. On May 7, 2015, it was announced that there were 7.1 million active subscriptions. At the end of June 2015, subscriptions dropped down to 5.6 million, lowest since 2005. By the end of September, subscribers were at 5.5 million.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Less than two months after beginning operation of "World of Warcraft" in China on September 19, 2009, NetEase was ordered to immediately stop charging players and to cease accepting registrations. A press estimate indicated that if "World of Warcraft" were shut down in China, the loss of subscribers would have caused Activision Blizzard's earnings to fall from 65 cents per share to 60 cents per share. In April 2008, "World of Warcraft" was estimated to hold 62 percent of the MMORPG subscription market. The game has grossed in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing video games of all time, along with "Space Invaders", "Pac-Man" and "Street Fighter II". In early 2012, Blizzard started its own series of tournaments for "World of Warcraft" and "StarCraft II", known as the Battle.net World Championship Series.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In September 2006, reports emerged of spoof "World of Warcraft" game advice websites that contained malware. Vulnerable computers would be infected through their web browsers, downloading a program that would then relay back account information. Blizzard's account support teams experienced high demand during this episode, stating that many users had been affected. Claims were also made that telephone support was closed for isolated periods due to the volume of calls and resulting queues. In April 2007, attacks evolved to take advantage of further exploits involving animated cursors, with multiple websites being used. Security researcher group Symantec released a report stating that a compromised "World of Warcraft" account was worth US$10 on the black market, compared to US$6 to US$12 for a compromised computer (correct as of March 2007). In February 2008, phishing emails were distributed requesting that users validate their account information using a fake version of the "World of Warcraft" account management pages. In June 2008, Blizzard announced the "Blizzard Authenticator", available as a hardware security token or mobile application that provides two-factor security. The token generates a one-time password based code that the player supplies when logging on. The password, used in addition to the user's own password, is only valid for a couple of minutes, thus providing extra security against keylogging malware.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Blizzard makes use of a system known as Warden on the Windows version of the game to detect third-party programs, such as botting software, allowing "World of Warcraft" to be played unattended. There has been some controversy as to the legality of Warden. Warden uses techniques similar to anti-virus software to analyze other running software on the players' PCs, as well as the file system. However, unlike most anti-virus software, it sends a portion of this information back to Blizzard, which caused privacy advocates to accuse it of being spyware. One example of the information Warden collects is the title of every window open on the system while "WoW" is running. On the other hand, many gamers responded positively to the development, stating that they supported the technology if it resulted in fewer cases of cheating. Blizzard's use of Warden was stated in the Terms of Agreement (TOA).


title: World of Warcraft

text: The Warden's existence was acknowledged in March 2008, during the opening legal proceedings against MDY Industries. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Arizona, and also listed Michael Donnelly as a defendant. Donnelly was included in the suit as the creator of MMO Glider, software that can automatically play many tasks in the game. Blizzard claimed the software is an infringement of its copyright and software license agreement, stating that "Glider use severely harms the WoW gaming experience for other players by altering the balance of play, disrupting the social and immersive aspects of the game, and undermining the in-game economy." Donnelly claims to have sold 100,000 copies of the $25 software.


title: World of Warcraft

text: On July 6, 2010, Blizzard Entertainment announced that on its forums for all games, users' accounts would display the real names tied to their accounts. Blizzard announced the change following an agreement with Facebook to allow Facebook to connect persons who choose to become friends to share their real identity (Real ID, as Blizzard calls the feature). The integration of the feature into the forums on the Blizzard Entertainment site raised concerns amongst fans of the many game series Blizzard has created over the years.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In response to the concerns, Blizzard released an updated statement on July 9, 2010, announcing that the Real ID integration with the official forums was being canceled.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In addition to playing the game itself and conversing on discussion forums provided by Blizzard, "World of Warcraft" players often participate in the virtual community in creative ways, including fan artwork and comic strip style storytelling.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Blizzard garnered criticism for its decision in January 2006 to ban guilds from advertising sexual orientation preferences. The incident occurred after several players were cited for "harassment" after advocating a group that was a gay-straight alliance. Blizzard later reversed the decision to issue warnings to players promoting LGBT-friendly guilds.


title: World of Warcraft

text: On October 7, 2010 "World of Warcraft" reached a subscriber base of over 12 million players. Since May 2011, the number of players playing had decreased by 10% from 11.4 million to 10.3 million. Blizzard's CEO Mike Morhaime said that the reason was probably due to a drop-off in the Eastern markets. In 2012, senior producer John Lagrave told Eurogamer that the drop in subscriptions may have also been attributed to the recent release of BioWare's "".


title: World of Warcraft

text: As with other MMORPGs, companies have emerged offering to sell virtual gold and associated services. The practice of amassing gold and in-game items for financial profit is frequently referred to as gold farming.


title: World of Warcraft

text: After Blizzard started offering free trial gameplay accounts, players noticed an increase in spam from bots advertising these services. One study shows that this problem is particularly prevalent on the European realms, with gold being over 14 times more expensive to buy on US realms than their European counterparts.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In patch 2.1, Blizzard responded to this by adding additional anti-spam mechanics including whisper throttling and the report spam function. Additionally, trial accounts are prevented from speaking in the public chat channels (although they may speak to players within range or whisper to other players that have first whispered to them), participating in in-game trades, and using the Auction House and the mail feature, among other limitations.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In May 2007, Blizzard filed a complaint against in Game Dollar LLC (trading as peons4hire) in U.S. federal court. In February 2008, the parties filed a consent decree in which in Game Dollar agreed to refrain from using any "World of Warcraft" chat or communication to advertise any business or sell any services relating to "World of Warcraft". In June 2007, "World of Warcraft" player Antonio Hernandez filed a class action lawsuit against IGE for interfering with the intended use of the game.


title: World of Warcraft

text: As characters progress in "World of Warcraft" and take on some of the toughest challenges, many of the rewards received are bound to that character and cannot be traded, generating a market for the trading of accounts with well-equipped characters. The highest noted "World of Warcraft" account trade was for £5000 (€7000, US$9,900) in early September 2007. The high price was due to the character possessing items that at the time were owned by only a handful out of the millions of active players, due to the difficulty in acquiring them. However, Blizzard banned the account five days after the purchase.


title: World of Warcraft

text: The practice of buying or selling gold in "World of Warcraft" has generated significant controversy. On February 21, 2008, Blizzard released a statement concerning the consequences of buying gold. Blizzard reported that an "alarmingly high" proportion of all gold bought originates from "hacked" accounts. The article also stated that customers who had paid for character leveling services had found their accounts compromised months later, with all items stripped and sold for virtual gold. The article noted that leveling service companies often used "disruptive hacks ... which can cause realm performance and stability issues". In April 2015, introduced a means to sell in-game gold for real money. A player may spend $20 on a one-month "game time token" that can be sold for in-game gold on the auction house.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In December 2015, Blizzard sold an in-game battle pet named Brightpaw for $10 with all proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This resulted in a new Blizzard record donation of over $1.7 million to Make-A-Wish. In December 2016, Blizzard again sold a battle pet named Mischief for $10; it helped raise more than $2.5 million for Make-A-Wish. In September 2017, Blizzard sold a battle pet named Shadow the fox for $10, with proceeds going to the Red Cross to help with disaster relief.


title: World of Warcraft

text: The Corrupted Blood plague incident was one of the first events to affect entire servers. Patch 1.7 saw the opening of Zul'Gurub, the game's first 20-player raid dungeon where players faced off against a tribe of trolls. Upon engaging the final boss, players were stricken by a debuff called "Corrupted Blood" which would periodically sap their life. The disease was passed on to other players simply by being near infected players. Originally this malady was confined within the Zul'Gurub instance, but it made its way into the outside world by way of hunter pets or warlock minions that contracted the disease.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Within hours, Corrupted Blood had completely infected major cities because of their high player concentrations. Low-level players were killed in seconds by the high-damage disease. Eventually, Blizzard fixed the issue so that the plague could not exist outside of Zul'Gurub.


title: World of Warcraft

text: The Corrupted Blood plague so closely resembled the outbreak of real-world epidemics that scientists are currently looking at the ways MMORPGs or other massively distributed systems can model human behavior during outbreaks. The reaction of players to the plague closely resembled previously hard-to-model aspects of human behavior that may allow researchers to more accurately predict how diseases and outbreaks spread amongst a population.


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" redefined the MMORPG genre. Its innovations were not necessarily original in isolation, but together they created a model for the genre as a theme park rather than a simulation. Its environment had tonal variety with serious lore and full characters but the intention to entertain. The game used quest completion for experience progression, making gameplay into a shopping list and encouraging mobility rather than dominating a location. Its use of instanced dungeons let players progress together without running into others, such that different areas of the game had different purposes, separating places for group challenges, mass challenges, and leveling. "World of Warcraft" original talent system, which let players distribute points among upgrades, saw wide adoption, including by "". "World of Warcraft" also gave structure to the "raid" group activity, in which players needed a specific strategy. Emergent behavior from raid strategies were later built into the game.


title: World of Warcraft

text: While not the first MMORPG to lead to hundreds of hours of commitment, "World of Warcraft" was the most successful one in its time. "Most people", wrote "Vice" in 2019, "know someone who's said they were 'addicted' to "World of Warcraft"". For some, the game became a near-total obsession taking precedent over basic necessities and relationships. The game's bountiful quests provided a sense of purpose or coping mechanism for many who were unfulfilled with their lives, even though that time investment resulted in little to no change to their life fulfillment. The game inspired Wowaholics Anonymous, a community for players seeking to quit playing. "World of Warcraft" also provided hope and purpose to players, some leading to in-person romance.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Prior to running Breitbart News and joining the Trump campaign and administration, Steve Bannon found a political audience in "World of Warcraft" players. He was involved in Internet Gaming Entertainment, a company that employed "World of Warcraft" "gold farmers" whose gold would be resold for real money, which introduced Bannon to what he saw as "rootless, white males" with "monster power" even prior to the rise of Reddit. He built Breitbart into a far-right news and entertainment website in part by hiring Milo Yiannopoulos to pursue disaffected gamers.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Vitalik Buterin, who later co-founded the cryptocurrency Ethereum, was driven to pursue decentralized technologies following a 2010 patch that changed his "World of Warcraft" avatar's preferred spell. Requests by "World of Warcraft" players also led Microsoft to alter how hotkeys work in their Windows operating system.


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" has inspired artists to satirize it and acknowledge its mark in popular culture. One example is the Emmy Award-winning "South Park" episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft". The game has been used to advertise unrelated products, such as Toyota trucks.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In late 2007, a series of television commercials for the game began airing featuring pop culture celebrities such as Mr. T, William Shatner, and Verne Troyer discussing the virtues of the character classes they play in the game. A Spanish commercial featuring Guillermo Toledo, and a French commercial featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme, were also televised. Two more were shown in November 2008, featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Steve Van Zandt. Another commercial in the series, which began airing in November 2011, featured Chuck Norris and played on the Internet phenomenon of "Chuck Norris facts".


title: World of Warcraft

text: "World of Warcraft" has inspired three board games: "" (including "Shadow of War" and "The Burning Crusade" expansions), "World of Warcraft: The Adventure Game" (produced by Fantasy Flight Games), and a "World of Warcraft" edition of "Trivial Pursuit". There is also a trading card game, and a collectible miniatures game on the market, both formerly produced by Upper Deck Entertainment, now produced by Cryptozoic Entertainment. Cryptozoic released an "Archives" set which contains foil reproductions of older cards produced by Upper Deck. In August 2012, Megabloks launched a licensed line of "World of Warcraft" 'building block' toys based on the game scenes, scenarios and characters. In March 2014, "" was released, which is a free-to-play digital card game based on the "Warcraft" universe, using classes similar to "World of Warcraft".


title: World of Warcraft

text: In November 2007, DC Comics published the first issue of the "World of Warcraft" comic under their WildStorm imprint.


title: World of Warcraft

text: In 2015, Blizzard released "Heroes of the Storm", a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game, in which players can control over 35 heroes from "Warcraft" universe such as Arthas, Gul'dan, Kel'thuzad, Malfurion, Ragnaros, Sylvanas, Thrall and Varian. The game features a "Warcraft"-themed battleground named Alterac Pass. A number of "Warcraft"-themed skins have been introduced for "Heroes of the Storm" in the “Echoes of Alterac” event in June 2018. Various soundtracks from "World of Warcraft", such as "Obsidian Sanctum" from "Wrath of the Lich King", "The Wandering Isle" from "Mists of Pandaria," and "Stormwind" theme, are present as background music in the game.


title: World of Warcraft

text: To mark the release of "Hearthstone", Blizzard released the Hearthsteed mount for "World of Warcraft" players. The mount is obtained through winning three games in Arena or Play mode. Widely advertised on various "World of Warcraft" websites, this promotion encourages "World of Warcraft" players to try "Hearthstone" and marked the first significant crossover implemented between Blizzard games.


title: World of Warcraft

text: Players who purchase "Warlords of Draenor" Collector's or Digital Deluxe Edition receive an Orc themed card back in "Hearthstone". "Heroes of the Storm" players who reach level 20 receive the Grave Golem battle pet in "World of Warcraft" and after reaching level 100 in "World of Warcraft" receive an Ironside Dire Wolf mount in "Heroes of the Storm". Starting on March 11, 2016, players who level a character to 20 in "WoW", which can be completed with the free starter edition, earn the alternate Paladin hero Lady Liadrin in "Hearthstone".


title: World of Warcraft

text: Players who buy "Overwatch" Origins, Game of the Year, or Collectors Edition are given the Baby Winston battle pet in "WoW".


title: World of Warcraft

text: On August 24, 2020, Blizzard announced that an animated series called "Afterlives" will premiere on August 27, during the Gamescom 2020 event.


title: Portuguese language

text: Portuguese ( or, in full, ) is a western Romance language of the Indo-European language family, originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is an official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe, while having co-official language status in East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, and Macau. A Portuguese-speaking person or nation is referred to as "Lusophone" (). As the result of expansion during colonial times, a cultural presence of Portuguese speakers is also found around the world. Portuguese is part of the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia and the County of Portugal, and has kept some Celtic phonology in its lexicon.


title: Portuguese language

text: With approximately 250 million native speakers and 24 million L2 (second language) speakers, Portuguese has approximately 274 million total speakers. It is usually listed as the sixth-most spoken language, the third-most spoken European language in the world in terms of native speakers and the second most spoken Romance language in the world, surpassed only by Spanish. Being the most widely spoken language in South America and all of the Southern Hemisphere, it is also the second-most spoken language, after Spanish, in Latin America, one of the 10 most spoken languages in Africa, and an official language of the European Union, Mercosur, the Organization of American States, the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, an international organization made up of all of the world's officially Lusophone nations. In 1997, a comprehensive academic study ranked Portuguese as one of the 10 most influential languages in the world.


title: Portuguese language

text: When the Romans arrived in the Iberian Peninsula in 216 BC, they brought with them the Latin language, from which all Romance languages are descended. The language was spread by Roman soldiers, settlers, and merchants, who built Roman cities mostly near the settlements of previous Celtic civilizations established long before the Roman arrivals. For that reason, the language has kept a relevant substratum of much older, Atlantic European Megalithic Culture and Celtic culture, part of the Hispano-Celtic group of ancient languages. In Latin, the Portuguese language is known as "lusitana" or "(latina) lusitanica", after the Lusitanians, a Celtic tribe that lived in the territory of present-day Portugal and Spain that adopted the Latin language as Roman settlers moved in. This is also the origin of the "luso-" prefix, seen in terms like "Lusophone."


title: Portuguese language

text: Between AD 409 and AD 711, as the Roman Empire collapsed in Western Europe, the Iberian Peninsula was conquered by Germanic peoples of the Migration Period. The occupiers, mainly Suebi, Visigoths and Buri who originally spoke Germanic languages, quickly adopted late Roman culture and the Vulgar Latin dialects of the peninsula and over the next 300 years totally integrated into the local populations. Some Germanic words from that period are part of the Portuguese lexicon. After the Moorish invasion beginning in 711, Arabic became the administrative and common language in the conquered regions, but most of the remaining Christian population continued to speak a form of Romance commonly known as Mozarabic, which lasted three centuries longer in Spain. Like other Neo-Latin and European languages, Portuguese has adopted a significant number of loanwords from Greek, mainly in technical and scientific terminology. These borrowings occurred via Latin, and later during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.


title: Portuguese language

text: Portuguese evolved from the medieval language, known today by linguists as Galician-Portuguese, Old Portuguese or Old Galician, of the northwestern medieval Kingdom of Galicia of which the County of Portugal was part. It is in Latin administrative documents of the 9th century that written Galician-Portuguese words and phrases are first recorded. This phase is known as Proto-Portuguese, which lasted from the 9th century until the 12th-century independence of the County of Portugal from the Kingdom of León, which had by then assumed reign over Galicia.


title: Portuguese language

text: In the first part of the Galician-Portuguese period (from the 12th to the 14th century), the language was increasingly used for documents and other written forms. For some time, it was the language of preference for lyric poetry in Christian Hispania, much as Occitan was the language of the poetry of the troubadours in France. The Occitan digraphs "lh" and "nh", used in its classical orthography, were adopted by the orthography of Portuguese, presumably by Gerald of Braga, a monk from Moissac, who became bishop of Braga in Portugal in 1047, playing a major role in modernizing written Portuguese using classical Occitan norms. Portugal became an independent kingdom in 1139, under King Afonso I of Portugal. In 1290, King Denis of Portugal created the first Portuguese university in Lisbon (the "Estudos Gerais", which later moved to Coimbra) and decreed for Portuguese, then simply called the "common language," to be known as the Portuguese language and used officially.


title: Portuguese language

text: In the second period of Old Portuguese, in the 15th and 16th centuries, with the Portuguese discoveries, the language was taken to many regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. By the mid-16th century, Portuguese had become a "lingua franca" in Asia and Africa, used not only for colonial administration and trade but also for communication between local officials and Europeans of all nationalities. The Portuguese expanded across South America, across Africa to the Pacific Ocean, taking their language with them.


title: Portuguese language

text: Its spread was helped by mixed marriages between Portuguese and local people and by its association with Roman Catholic missionary efforts, which led to the formation of creole languages such as that called Kristang in many parts of Asia (from the word "cristão", "Christian"). The language continued to be popular in parts of Asia until the 19th century. Some Portuguese-speaking Christian communities in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia preserved their language even after they were isolated from Portugal.


title: Portuguese language

text: The end of the Old Portuguese period was marked by the publication of the "Cancioneiro Geral" by Garcia de Resende, in 1516. The early times of Modern Portuguese, which spans the period from the 16th century to the present day, were characterized by an increase in the number of learned words borrowed from Classical Latin and Classical Greek because of the Renaissance (learned words borrowed from Latin also came from Renaissance Latin, the form of Latin during that time), which greatly enriched the lexicon. Most literate Portuguese speakers were also literate in Latin; and thus they easily adopted Latin words into their writing, and eventually speech, in Portuguese.


title: Portuguese language

text: Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes once called Portuguese "the sweet and gracious language", while the Brazilian poet Olavo Bilac described it as ("the last flower of Latium, naïve and beautiful"). Portuguese is also termed "the language of Camões," after Luís Vaz de Camões, one of the greatest literary figures in the Portuguese language and author of the Portuguese epic poem "The Lusiads".


title: Portuguese language

text: In March 2006, the Museum of the Portuguese Language, an interactive museum about the Portuguese language, was founded in São Paulo, Brazil, the city with the greatest number of Portuguese language speakers in the world. The museum is the first of its kind in the world. In 2015 the museum was partially destroyed in a fire, but restored and reopened in 2020.


title: Portuguese language

text: Portuguese is the native language of the vast majority of the people in Portugal, Brazil and São Tomé and Príncipe (95%). Perhaps 75% of the population of urban Angola speaks Portuguese natively, with approximately 85% fluent; these rates are lower in the countryside. Just over 50% (and rapidly increasing) of the population of Mozambique are native speakers of Portuguese, and 70% are fluent, according to the 2007 census. Portuguese is also spoken natively by 30% of the population in Guinea-Bissau, and a Portuguese-based creole is understood by all. No data is available for Cape Verde, but almost all the population is bilingual, and the monolingual population speaks the Portuguese-based Cape Verdean Creole. Portuguese is mentioned in the Constitution of South Africa as one of the languages spoken by communities within the country for which the Pan South African Language Board was charged with promoting and ensuring respect.


title: Portuguese language

text: There are also significant Portuguese-speaking immigrant communities in many countries including Andorra (17.1%), Bermuda, Canada (400,275 people in the 2006 census), France (1,625,000 people), Japan (400,000 people), Jersey, Luxembourg (about 25% of the population as of 2021), Namibia (about 4–5% of the population, mainly refugees from Angola in the north of the country), Paraguay (10.7% or 636,000 people), Macau (2.3% speak fluent Portuguese or 15,000 people), Switzerland (550,000 in 2019, learning + mother tongue), Venezuela (554,000). and the United States (0.35% of the population or 1,228,126 speakers according to the 2007 American Community Survey).


title: Portuguese language

text: In some parts of former Portuguese India, namely Goa and Daman and Diu, the language is still spoken by about 10,000 people. In 2014, an estimated 1,500 students were learning Portuguese in Goa.


title: Portuguese language

text: (in Portuguese "Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa", with the Portuguese acronym CPLP) consists of the nine independent countries that have Portuguese as an official language: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe.


title: Portuguese language

text: Equatorial Guinea made a formal application for full membership to the CPLP in June 2010, a status given only to states with Portuguese as an official language. In 2011, Portuguese became its third official language (besides Spanish and French) and, in July 2014, the country was accepted as a member of the CPLP.


title: Portuguese language

text: Portuguese is also one of the official languages of the Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China of Macau (alongside Chinese) and of several international organizations, including Mercosur, the Organization of Ibero-American States, the Union of South American Nations, the Organization of American States, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the Southern African Development Community and the European Union.


title: Portuguese language

text: According to "The World Factbook"s country population estimates for 2018, the population of each of the ten jurisdictions is as follows (by descending order):


title: Portuguese language

text: The combined population of the entire Lusophone area was estimated at 300 million in January 2022. This number does not include the Lusophone diaspora, estimated at 10 million people (including 4.5 million Portuguese, 3 million Brazilians, although it is hard to obtain official accurate numbers of diasporic Portuguese speakers because a significant portion of these citizens are naturalized citizens born outside of Lusophone territory or are children of immigrants, and may have only a basic command of the language. Additionally, a large part of the diaspora is a part of the already-counted population of the Portuguese-speaking countries and territories, such as the high number of Brazilian and PALOP emigrant citizens in Portugal or the high number of Portuguese emigrant citizens in the PALOP and Brazil.


title: Portuguese language

text: The Portuguese language therefore serves more than 250 million people daily, who have direct or indirect legal, juridical and social contact with it, varying from the only language used in any contact, to only education, contact with local or international administration, commerce and services or the simple sight of road signs, public information and advertising in Portuguese.


title: Portuguese language

text: Portuguese is a mandatory subject in the school curriculum in Uruguay. Other countries where Portuguese is commonly taught in schools or where it has been introduced as an option include Venezuela, Zambia, the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Namibia, Eswatini (Swaziland), South Africa, Ivory Coast, and Mauritius. In 2017, a project was launched to introduce Portuguese as a school subject in Zimbabwe. Also, according to Portugal's Minister of Foreign Affairs, the language will be part of the school curriculum of a total of 32 countries by 2020. In the countries listed below, Portuguese is spoken either as a native language by vast majorities due to the Portuguese colonial past or as a "lingua franca" in bordering and multilingual regions, such as on the border between Brazil and Uruguay & Paraguay, as well as Angola and Namibia. In many other countries, Portuguese is spoken by majorities as a second language. And there are still communities of thousands of Portuguese (or Creole) first language speakers in Goa, Sri Lanka, Kuala Lumpur, Daman and Diu, etc. due to Portuguese colonization. In East Timor, the number of Portuguese speakers is quickly increasing as Portuguese and Brazilian teachers are making great strides in teaching Portuguese in the schools all over the island. Additionally, there are many large Portuguese immigrant communities all over the world.


title: Portuguese language

text: According to estimates by UNESCO, Portuguese is the fastest-growing European language after English and the language has, according to the newspaper "The Portugal News" publishing data given from UNESCO, the highest potential for growth as an international language in southern Africa and South America. Portuguese is a globalized language spoken officially on four continents, and as a second language by millions worldwide.


title: Portuguese language

text: Since 1991, when Brazil signed into the economic community of Mercosul with other South American nations, namely Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, Portuguese is either mandatory, or taught, in the schools of those South American countries.


title: Portuguese language

text: Although early in the 21st century, after Macau was returned to China and immigration of Brazilians of Japanese descent to Japan slowed down, the use of Portuguese was in decline in Asia, it is once again becoming a language of opportunity there, mostly because of increased diplomatic and financial ties with economically powerful Portuguese-speaking countries in the world.


title: Portuguese language

text: Portuguese, being a language spread on all continents, is official in several international organizations; one of twenty official of the European Union, an official language of NATO, Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, French and English), one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency.


title: Portuguese language

text: It is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, French, German, and Italian), and Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, French and Arabic), in addition to being the official legal language in the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, also in Community of Portuguese Language Countries, an international organization formed essentially by lusophone countries.


title: Portuguese language

text: , a pronoun meaning "you", is used for educated, formal, and colloquial respectful speech in most Portuguese-speaking regions. In a few Brazilian states such as Rio Grande do Sul, Pará, among others, is virtually absent from the spoken language. Riograndense and European Portuguese normally distinguishes formal from informal speech by verbal conjugation. Informal speech employs followed by second person verbs, formal language retains the formal , followed by the third person conjugation.


title: Portuguese language

text: Conjugation of verbs in has three different forms in Brazil (verb "to see": , in the traditional second person, , in the third person, and , in the innovative second person), the conjugation used in the Brazilian states of Pará, Santa Catarina and Maranhão being generally traditional second person, the kind that is used in other Portuguese-speaking countries and learned in Brazilian schools.