Play World of Warcraft for free

By Ellie Gibson Published 15 June, 2006

Well, for ten days, anyway.

All the best crack peddlers know that you must speculate to accumulate - offer the first hit for free and two weeks later they'll be begging for more and borrowing money off Carol Vorderman's loans company to pay for it.

Well, it's probably a business stratagem that Blizzard is familiar with, too - which would be why they're now offering European gamers the chance to try out World of Warcraft for free.

Sign up for the trial over at the WOW website, download the client and you'll get ten whole days of free access to the game. And a brand new addiction, most likely.

Just remember, kids - there's a monthly subscription fee of £8.99 to pay once the trial is up. You might think you won't get hooked, but so did Zammo.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (42) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • kaleii Verified Editor-in-Chief, Country Manager, Eurogamer Sweden #1 6 years ago

    Also, you'll have to buy the game to continue playing (you can keep your character though).

    I've just crawled out from a 1 1/2 year long WoW-addiction. Beware kids. Nobody likes typing /played and realising that they've spent 4 hours a day on average on an online game. :D

  • smelly #2 6 years ago

    No.

    I REFUSE to try it and get myself addicted.

  • lennon #3 6 years ago

    Yes the /played feature provides a frightening insight into just how addictive this game really is!

  • smelly #4 6 years ago

    I know too many people who have given up their lives to this game.

    I refuse to let it happen to me.

    Reminds me of "better than life"

    (geeky rd book analogy)

    Edited by smelly at 15/06/06 @ 12:35

  • shamblemonkee #5 6 years ago

    Help, I've relapsed after 8 months off!

  • shamblemonkee #6 6 years ago

    Question, how many people would have the same syndrome as Rimmer in BTL?

  • smoison #7 6 years ago

    Might give it a try, but I'll never pay 10 bucks a month for a game. NEVER!

  • York #8 6 years ago

    My brother refuses to admit he is hooked :(

    I think we need to hold an intervention.

  • Cabelo #9 6 years ago

    Hold two... for kicks like.

  • UncleLou #10 6 years ago

    Might give it a try, but I'll never pay 10 bucks a month for a game. NEVER!

    Mwuahahaha. We'll talk again after your ten days are over. ;)

  • killyourtv #11 6 years ago

    'just remember kids' - doubt you'd see that on a movie site

  • InfiniteFury #12 6 years ago

    I smoked 20-30 a day for 15 years and gave up 8 months ago

    I went 2 weeks without Warcraft and it was worse - when I came back to it I, according to the missus, spent 8 hours that evening with an unending gleeful smile on my face.

    I look up from my monitor at work sometimes to realise I've had the Ironforge tune looping round my mind for the last hour.

    Help.
    Edited by InfiniteFury at 15/06/06 @ 13:08

  • Pirotic #13 6 years ago

    It's well worth it even if you are not interested in playing an mmorpg long-term, I remember i was completely blown away with WoW for the first week or two, discovering places for the first time, getting new talents every day. It's a good many hours of fun for free. Just don't subscribe else the grind will suck your life away.

  • InfiniteFury #14 6 years ago

    Don't do it Dave.

    You won't know how suscpeptible you'll be until you play it and by then it's too late.

    I can well remember scoffing at paying £9 a month to buy a game and then play it but it's a drop in the ocean compared to the gameplay I get out of it.

  • InfiniteFury #15 6 years ago

    I actually believe that Microsoft wouldn't want WoW to be released on the 360 becuse the number of games purchased for the console would plummet. Once you're in, you just don't want to play anything else.

  • gaijin #16 6 years ago

    awwww, InfiniteFury don't say that. I got momentarily excited when I saw this, then remembered the reason that I'm not already hooked as a nun on the penny slots was that it'll take a few hundred quid of upgrades to run it on our creaking Mac. So I was just thinking, oooh, but a 360 version...

    /gruntled

  • Azazel #17 6 years ago

    Kind of like being given the One Ring...

    I gave my free trial disc away immediately though :)

  • InfiniteFury #18 6 years ago

    @gaijan

    Of course, factor in the fact that you won't buy any other games for a year or so - once upgraded, the only cost incurred (once you've bought the game) is £100 a year in subs.

    Just work out how much you spend on other games a year and it soon adds up to a BARGAIN OF UNBRIDLED SLAVERING GAMING ECSTACY
    Edited by InfiniteFury at 15/06/06 @ 14:06

  • jack_klugman #19 6 years ago

    THE SIGN UP PAGE DOESN'T WORK LOL

    THIS IS TRUE!

  • kaleii Verified Editor-in-Chief, Country Manager, Eurogamer Sweden #20 6 years ago

    MAPSTER R U SURE LOL

  • lennon #21 6 years ago

    @InfiniteFury - How true that is. Whilst I was addicted I saved a small fortune as I wasnt buying any other games at all.

  • neuroniky #22 6 years ago

    Stay away from this. Believe me. You don't want to get hooked... after two weeks of pure fun, you're bound to months of grinding slavery. It's not that fun after some time, it's just addictive... I often played this with my brain turned off... once in a while I asked myself if I was having fun, and more often than not the answer was "no".

  • Sko #23 6 years ago

    "I REFUSE to try it and get myself addicted."

    But how will you know you've the real will-power to resist it's pull if you don't? Go on, give it a little go. Goooo on, what harm can it doooo? ;)

    Seriously though, it's not that bad. I don't play any more and I was still really enjoying the game when I unsubscribed. I just decided I wanted to concentrate on other things and that was it, really.

  • TripSkyway #24 6 years ago

    Nice I might give this a go tomorrow, if they fix the sign up. Been curious about this game for a long time.
    Edited by TripSkyway at 15/06/06 @ 15:33

  • InfiniteFury #25 6 years ago

    Ignore the advice if you must. But if you take this trial, get to around level 5 and find yourself leant forward in your chair with a gleam in your eye and a smile of pure innocent joy on your face then that is your last opportunity to say "NO" and find the courage to pull the plug. After that.....forget it :-)
    Edited by InfiniteFury at 15/06/06 @ 15:40

  • Ryan121 #26 6 years ago

    I played the trial got bored of it it within half an hour and never played it again.

    I don't understand how anyone can find it addictive at all?

  • neuroniky #27 6 years ago

    Ryan: I guess you can ask... 6 million of addicts around the world? :D

  • byron_hinson #28 6 years ago

    sign up page still is not working!

  • InfiniteFury #29 6 years ago

    A friend of mine calls it "Feeding your inner retard" - you either have one or you don't. Levelling, stats, powers, constant door opening to new items, which trigger new quests, which trigger new levelling opportunities which gives access to new items etc which mean new quests and so on.

    Not the nicest turn of phrase but I think it conveys the sentiment well

  • strangeed #30 6 years ago

    How much space does it need on the HD?

    I'll try it out when the sign-up page is working again.

  • Goban #31 6 years ago

    Is this for Macs to? Hope it's not.

  • mugen #32 6 years ago

    Sign up page is working, and has been in all afternoon. Perhaps try a different browser, I for one used Firefox.

  • Shanucore #33 6 years ago

    I signed up with Firefox a few hours back. Not sure how long I played for but I hit level 6. It's pretty good fun and I can see how it could become addictive. :)

  • Mr_Brown #34 6 years ago

    Can you get 10 days free if you were already signed up but cancelled your account?

  • Spectral #35 6 years ago

    I couldn't sign up in IE but FF worked fine, so as mentioned, use that. I just wish I could download the client faster than 20k/sec. Shame you cant use a different BT client.

  • mugen #36 6 years ago

    The sign up is for a new account. Personally, I had a 14 day trial in the past but I thought I'd give it another go - so simply signed up under a different username and password. Filling in the form gives you a trial version validation key - so only for newcomers, unfortunately.

  • mugen #37 6 years ago

    FAO Spectral: If you have a friend with the game or have it on a demo dvd, just install the full client off disc if the download is taking it's time. It's the "full game", you simply log-in on a trial account (your level cap is 20, you cannot use public channels or the auction house, etc unless you buy a retail key and upgrade)

  • MaxiSleep #38 6 years ago

    Stop at Hogger

    For the love of god stop at hogger

  • InfiniteFury #39 6 years ago

    Tip for you, start as a Night Elf - that first week wandering around the forests with the big troll like creatures thumping about is still my favourite part of the game 8 months in.

    Lovely music as well in that area, some of the finest to grace a game. There's an Enya-ish (sorry) interlude played intermittently in there which still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up after about 500 listens.
    Edited by InfiniteFury at 16/06/06 @ 09:03

  • symmetry #40 6 years ago

    God Damn! Blizzard are some lazy-ass mother-fuckers. When you download the client, it's the ORIGINAL COMPLETELY UNPATCHED client!

    So after you're done downloading that 2.75 GB monster, it has to then download and apply 1 and a half years of patches, one by frikkin one.

    Jesus H.

    /goes back to patching.

  • strangeed #41 6 years ago

    Well I've tried both IE and FF on several occasions and it hasn't worked :(

  • daneruse #42 6 years ago

    wat is this