Thunderfire Games has announced that the ¥2.2 million RMB cash prize it had planned for the Patch 12.1 Race to World First will not be offered. The publisher will instead redistribute the money across its Chinese World of Warcraft community, after the bounty went unclaimed through successive raid tiers.
The prize dates to World of Warcraft’s return to China at the start of The War Within, when NetEase offered ¥1,000,000 to any Chinese guild that took first place in the global Race to World First. It rose by a further ¥200,000 with each new tier, alongside a separate ¥500,000 challenge for defeating the three guilds that routinely lead the race. Starting at ¥1 million in Nerub-ar Palace, it was never won.
Where the money goes instead
- Custom souvenirs engraved with character and guild names for 30 members of the top 50 Chinese Hall of Fame guilds.
- Cash prizes for high-quality dungeon and raid guides, and for community Race to World First reporting; the specifics have not been announced.
- International broadcasting fees, so Chinese players can watch North American and European race streams more easily.
Chinese guilds have not been absent from the race itself. Wowhead reports that between three and five have consistently placed inside the global top 10 across recent expansions despite a two-day content delay on Chinese servers, and that Huoguo Hero and JTH each took ¥500,000 for world second and world third kills on Chimaerus. In that same tier Thunderfire introduced a Chinese server Hall of Fame, with physical trophies for the first 50 guilds to clear the Midnight Season 1 raids.
The redistribution sits alongside a separate anniversary programme marking 21 years of World of Warcraft in China, which Wowhead reports carries ¥6 million RMB in prizes including an RTX 5080 giveaway and 10 free mounts.
The announcement closes on a lighter note, with the publisher joking that Echo and Liquid will no longer be able to transfer to Chinese servers to claim the prize themselves. The Patch 12.1 Venomous Abyss Race to World First it was attached to still goes ahead; only the prize attached to a Chinese win is gone.
Join the conversation — sign in to comment.
Sign in
