Blizzard Responds to Recent DDoS Attacks: Hardcore Characters Killed in Attacks May Be Revived

Author: Luxrah
Date: March 25, 2025
Updated: March 25, 2025
Expansion: WoW Classic

Clay Stone, Associate Production Director for WoW Classic, has published a response to the recent DDoS attacks that have plagued Blizzard’s game services, including Hardcore WoW Classic. The attacks have gotten a lot of attention since causing the on-stream deaths of the OnlyFangs streamer guild, but many other players have also been affected.

Blizzard is now taking steps to resurrect characters who died in the attacks, and may do so again for similar attacks in the future. The statement is adamant that this will be the only exception to their stance on character restorations due to the broad impact and maliciousness of DDoS attacks.

Kaivax – (Source)

Greetings,

Recently, we have experienced unprecedented distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that impacted many Blizzard game services, including Hardcore realms, with the singular goal of disrupting players’ experiences. As we continue our work to further strengthen the resilience of WoW realms and our rapid response time, we’re taking steps to resurrect player-characters that were lost as a result of these attacks. Unlike the many other ways characters can die in Hardcore, DDoS attacks are an intentionally malicious effort made by third-party bad actors, and we believe the severity and results of DDoS attacks specifically warrant a different response.

In the future, Blizzard may elect – at our sole discretion – to revive Hardcore characters that perish in a mass event which we deem inconsistent with the integrity of the game, such as a DDoS attack.

Our broader stance on character restorations or death appeals has not changed. To be clear, we do not intend to revive characters which have died due to server disconnects, lag spikes, gameplay bugs, or any other reasons. Blizzard Customer Support cannot assist with issues related to characters who have died on Hardcore realms.

Thank you, as always, for your feedback.

Clay Stone
Associate Production Director, WoW Classic

About the Author

Luxrah

I've been playing World of Warcraft on and off since vanilla, usually as a healer or caster and often as a guild leader. I play both retail and classic. I also love RPGs, sandboxes, and sims.