Warcraft

The expansion adds new units, buildings and heroes for each faction, two new auxiliary races, five neutral heroes (with three more later added by patches) as well as a number of tweaks to the gameplay and balancing. Sea units were reintroduced which were absent in Reign of Chaos. Battle.net-powered multiplayer was expanded by the addition of clans, automated tournaments and new maps and custom scenarios.

Development began in October 2002, shortly after the release of the main game and the expansion was announced on January 22, 2003. Public beta tests allowed 20,000 players in two waves to try the new features. Support continues even after release, with Blizzard adding new content and balancing changes as well as support for newer hardware.

The Frozen Throne received generally favorable reviews from critics. Most reviewers praised the mission design of the single-player campaign for positively deviating from the standard real-time strategy game formula. The design and audio of the new units was generally considered fitting, though a few critics bemoaned the graphics and some of the voice-acting. By August 15, 2003, it had sold more than one million copies.

The Frozen Throne takes place on the fictional high fantasy world of Azeroth.[16] In the main game, the human paladin Arthas Menethil was corrupted by the Lich King Ner'zhul, an undead sorcerer entrapped in ice (the titular "Frozen Throne"), and became his lieutenant. Arthas invaded the High Elven kingdom and killed its general, Sylvanas Windrunner, whom he resurrected to serve him. He then paved the way for an invasion by the Burning Legion—a demonic force from another realm—who were ultimately defeated by an alliance of elves, humans, and orcs. In the events leading up to the victory against the Legion, Night Elf leader Tyrande Whisperwind freed the imprisoned Illidan Stormrage. However, Illidan consumed a demonic relic, becoming half-demon himself, and was cast out. After the Burning Legion's defeat, Illidan was contacted by Kil'jaeden, one of the remaining masters of the Legion, who tasks him with destroying the rebellious Lich King.

The expansion introduces new factions to the game's universe: The Blood Elves, former High Elves that now suffer from addiction to magic; the Naga, mutated former Night Elves; and the Draenei, the original inhabitants of Draenor, the orc homeworld now known as Outland. The Frozen Throne follows the quest of the Night Elf warden Maiev Shadowsong to recapture the renegade Illidan Stormrage, Blood Elf prince Kael'thas' struggle with the Alliance and subsequent service to Illidan, Arthas' attempt to rescue the Lich King from Illidan's assault, and Sylvanas Windrunner's fight for independence.The Horde campaign is separate from the other three, being a stand-alone story and using more role-playing game mechanics over real-time strategy game mechanics. The campaign chronicles the early days of the Horde's newly established kingdom from the perspective of the beastmaster hero Rexxar.