The very first screenshots of World of Warcraft
And of the 60-person team that built it.
Blizzard recruitment marketing manager Dave Wilson has provided a fascinating turn-of-the-millennia look back at original World of Warcraft development, including sharing the very first screenshot of the genre-conquering online game.
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/screenshot1.jpg_7Y30Tuc.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
There's a look at the game in 1999...
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/screenshotold2.jpg.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
And another that must have been taken around that time.
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/screenshotold3.jpg.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
He shared the first character-select screen from the game (note: the game originally had only six races)...
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/screenshotrace.jpg.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
As well as early designs of the undead race...
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/screenshotundead.jpg.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
And female trolls.
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/screenshottroll.jpg.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
He revealed that Molten Core wasn't finished and was going to be cut from original release...
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/oldmoltencore.jpg.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
And that Onyxia wasn't finished until 12th August 2004.
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/onyxia1.jpg.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
This is the first test fight against Onyxia. My, what a big arrow that is in her neck.
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/onyxia2.jpg.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
And this is the first test of the Blackwing Lair raid, added after launch. Note the placeholder shout by the boss Razorgore.
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/oldblackwinglair.jpg.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
Finally, here's the original 60-person Blizzard team that launched the game in 2004. Remarkable.
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/originalwowteam.jpg.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
There's plenty more, some newer cobbled together on Storify by user Pike.
World of Warcraft turned 10 years old in the US last November, and in Europe in February. We wrote a handful of articles to celebrate what has been phenomena in the gaming world. Long-time WOW player John Bedford told the tale of his bizarre obsession with earning the outrageously obscure "Salty" fishing title; he also reminisced about what he believes is the game's finest raid, Karazhan.
Editor Oli Welsh declared World of Warcraft a Game of the Generation, and me, well, I resurrected a character and a part of my life I'd left behind nine years ago. What a game.