Tarisland, Tencent’s Shameless WoW Rip-Off is Set to Start Playtesting Soon

Tencent, the notorious Chinese tech giant known for copying successful games, apps, and products, is at it again with its latest project, Tarisland. As a painfully obvious clone of Blizzard’s immensely popular MMORPG, World of Warcraft (WoW), Tencent seems to have no qualms about capitalizing on the latter’s recent misfortunes in China. Earlier this year, Blizzard’s services in China were suspended following the expiration of a licensing agreement with local partner NetEase (NTES).

Tarisland is set to begin playtests in the coming months, but players should not expect anything groundbreaking from this WoW rip-off. The game promises a “fair and classic cross-platform MMORPG” without pay-to-win features, which is hard to believe for an MMO aimed at the eastern market primarily.

Tencent has a long history of copying others’ work, with the most infamous example being the League of Legends knockoff “Honour of Kings.”. Tencent’s strategy seems to be less about pushing the boundaries of gaming and technology, and more about profiting from the hard work of others.

The Tarisland team claims to be committed to creating “a persistent and exciting world for everyone,” but how can they deliver on that promise when they’re starting from a place of such blatant unoriginality? It’s hard to imagine this game offering anything new or worthwhile to fans of the genre.

Despite the negativity surrounding Tarisland, the game may still find success in China due to the void left by World of Warcraft. Chinese gamers looking for a familiar MMORPG experience may be drawn to Tarisland, if only out of necessity. However, international audiences and die-hard WoW fans should approach this blatant clone with caution.

As Tencent shamelessly profits off the hard work of others, it’s time for gamers to stand up and demand more innovation and creativity from the industry. Let’s not reward companies for recycling ideas and regurgitating content. Instead, let’s celebrate and support those who bring fresh, exciting experiences to our screens.

For now, we can only hope that the playtests for Tarisland reveal what we all suspect: that this is nothing more than a pale imitation of World of Warcraft, doomed to disappoint.