The Evolution of Gold Farming in World of Warcraft: From Humble Beginnings to Lucrative Ventures

As long as World of Warcraft has been around, there has been gold. Since 2004, players of Blizzard Entertainment's globally popular massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) have earned, traded, and hoarded this rare currency. Gold in World of Warcraft is arguably even more valuable than the real-world mineral that inspired it; you can use gold in WOW to buy everything from rare equipment to epic mounts to quick transportation between faraway locations.

But who has the time to manually sit and grind and earn all that gold yourself? Nobody, that's who! It's 2023, and there are hundreds of games out there. To avoid spending all your free time grinding enough money in World of Warcraft to earn you that equipment or weapon or mount you want, you can instead purchase affordable WOW gold in bulk thanks to the ever-growing gold farming industry.

What Is Gold Farming?

Gold farming, often shortened to simply "farming," and alternately referred to as "real money trading" (RMT) consists of one player earning a large amount of gold in World of Warcraft by completing various in-game tasks. Then, that player sells it to another player for some amount of US dollars or other real-world currency. The player who bought the gold can then spend their newly acquired WOW gold on whatever they like.

Today, gold farming occurs in not just World of Warcraft, but dozens of MMORPGs and other live-service games. However, the majority of virtual currency farming centers around WOW gold, as it remains the world's most popular MMO and continues to release new content updates such as 2022's Dragonflight expansion. It is estimated that around 10 million people play World of Warcraft in 2023, and that approximately 40% of currently active players have bought gold at some point during their WOW career.

A Brief History of Gold Farming

Nobody is exactly sure when gold farming began, but one thing can be said for certain – it was around long before World of Warcraft ever hit the scene. Reports of players selling virtual currency to other players for real money can be found as early as the 1990s, and centered around early MMOs such as Ultima Online, Tibia, EverQuest, and others. At the time, gold farming was generally considered a "cottage industry," with individuals playing their game or games of choice from their homes and selling their earned currency to individual customers and clients.

Two things changed this, turning the gold farming industry from its humble roots to the global enterprise it has become today: the release of World of Warcraft and the rise of internet cafes or "cyber-cafes" around the world. Now, people in developing countries in Asia and South America could make a living by playing games – particularly WOW – at these cafes even if they did not have access to the Internet at home. Gold farming became quite lucrative, as did the similar but not identical "power leveling," in which players built high-level, well-equipped characters in WOW and other games and then sold them to others who did not want to level grind themselves.

Today, gold farming is a multi-million dollar industry, with several large corporations founded centering around it. Thousands of workers spend their entire days playing World of Warcraft or other games with virtual currency, killing monsters, winning raids, collecting and selling common items in-game, and in general earning thousands – if not millions – of gold to sell to others. China and Venezuela are generally considered to be the world leaders in gold farming, but RMT-based companies also exist in Brazil, the Philippines, South Korea, and many other countries.

Gold Farming in World of Warcraft Will Continue

Over the years, there have been several attempts by various companies and governments to ban gold farming entirely. While this has led to gold farming generally becoming more regulated – in particular, many countries now tax income from RMT with the same rates as money earned during a "normal" job – attempts to wipe it out or ban it entirely have been generally unsuccessful. In World of Warcraft and many other games, gold farming is here to stay.

Whether you’re interested in getting into World of Warcraft for the first time or you’re a veteran player making your way through the latest high-level content, buying gold is a great way to get ahead and save time otherwise spent grinding on the things you really want to do in the game. You can purchase WOW gold in packs ranging from as low as a few thousand gold to as many as 2 million, and the gold will be delivered to your account within 24 hours using a secure, regulated process. Free yourself from the grind with a purchase of some WOW gold today!