Well, that didn’t take long.
Shortly after Robin Williams death on Aug. 11, fans petitioned Blizzard to include a tribute to the famed actor in World of Warcraft, the popular massively multiplayer role-playing game with its fifth expansion, Warlords of Draenor, Williams was a known gamer and player of World of Warcraft. Developer Blizzard already responded to the petition by stating, “We’re taking care of it.” However, it looks like it took care of it faster than anyone expected.
World of Warcraft site Wowhead discovered character models named after Williams in the code for Warlords of Draenor’s beta test (the expansion is set to launch on Nov. 13). While Blizzard based all of them existing models, they’ve clearly been named and modified to take after the loved actor. The blue genie, pictured above, is a clear reference to Aladdin. Additionally, Blizzard included a male and female model (right), with the latter sporting gray hair, in a likely reference to Mrs. Doubtfire.
These characters all have the name Robin and the title Entertainer. It seems likely that Robin will act as nonplayer character in the World’s End Tavern, a new location in the expansion, who will tell players jokes, as the petition requests.
Blizzard has a lot riding on Warlords of Draenor, as the company hopes to stop bleeding subscription numbers with the new content. However, this gesture, whether it adds new players (or brings those who ditched their subscriptions) or not, is sure to be a welcomed one with fans.
