Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans was a game cancelled by Blizzard after almost two decades. Fortunately, a playable demo of the game has resurfaced recently.
Warcraft Adventure: Lord of the Clans History
During the late '90s, Blizzard commissioned Animation Magic to develop an adventure game using the mouse's point and click. The contractor is a U.S. company but most of their works are done by Russian based staff. The video of the cancelled game can be watched here.
Warcraft Adventure: Lord of the Clans- What Went Wrong?
The game was almost ready, unfortunately an event happen that was outside the control of Blizzard or Animation Magic. Lucas Arts released Monkey Island III which featured animation and visual effects that Warcraft Adventures could not hope to compete. The 2D animation was also made obsolete by another Lucas Art game, Grim Fandango which came out in full 3D.
Blizzard Scrapped Warcraft Adventure: Lord of the Clans
By the middle of 1998, Blizzard finally reached a decision to cancel the game in development. Blizzard's delay in releasing the game and disputes with Animation Magic became the final nail to the game's coffin. The corporate heads probably thought that it was better to cancel a game than have a substandard game in their collections.
Warcraft Adventure: Lord of the Clans Copy Found in Russia
Fortunately, former Russian employees of Animation Magic kept a working copy of Warcraft Adventure: Lord of the Clans in their files. The file of the cancelled game can be downloaded from the Scrolls of Lore Forum.
Gaming fans were able to watch a few footages of Warcraft Adventure: Lord of the Clans. This recent discovery is the most complete file of the game to date. Hopefully, Blizzard will let fans enjoy this cancelled but still playable game.
