The Future of Warcraft Recorder and Archon Video

Alex, creator of Warcraft Recorder, has published a video sharing an update on the future of the program following its acquisition by Archon. He explains why the acquisition happened, why he joined the team, what users can expect going forward, and what new features are in development. Below, you'll find this video, as well as a summary of some key points.

Warcraft Recorder Is Not Going Away!

• Warcraft Recorder will remain a standalone application.
• The Archon App and Warcraft Recorder will continue to be developed and maintained separately.
• The long-term goal is to make the cloud video features of both applications fully interoperable, allowing users to work together regardless of which app they use.

Why Alex Created Warcraft Recorder

• Originally, WCR was inspired by SquadOV. But Alex wanted more from the program...

  • A local-first recording solution.
  • No mandatory cloud uploads.
  • No required logins.

• And so, WCR was born! It began as a Microsoft Hackathon project in 2021. It evolved over several years through:

  • Open-source development.
  • Community contributions.
  • Integration with OBS for efficient recording.
  • Optional cloud video sharing.

Warcraft Recorder's Growth

• After SquadOV shut down, community adoption increased significantly.
• Cloud sharing was added. It used Cloudflare to avoid expensive bandwidth costs.
• WCR's current scale:
  • 20,000+ users!
  • 200+ TB of hosted gameplay videos!

Why the Acquisition Happened

• Alex had known Yax, Archon's CTO, for years! They've raided together in the same guild.
• Warcraft Logs had long wanted to build integrated video features.
• Discussions lasted about a year before reaching an agreement.
• The deciding factor was seeing Archon's in-development video analytics, which matched features Alex had always wanted to build... but couldn't realistically create alone.

The Future

Alex wants to be sure to continue supporting three types of users:

• Local Users

  • Offline recording only.
  • No cloud dependency.

• Pro Users

  • Warcraft Recorder Pro subscribers using existing progression tools.

• Power Users

  • Users who want advanced video analysis powered by Warcraft Logs analytics.
  • This group benefits the most from the acquisition.

Integration Plans

• Archon is finishing up development for Cloud video support. Eventually, Warcraft Recorder Pro and Archon's Cloud video service will become interoperable, but not quite yet!

• Users will eventually be able to:

  • Choose whichever application they prefer.
  • Link their Warcraft Recorder and Warcraft Logs accounts.
  • Share videos across guilds regardless of which app members use.

• Existing Patreon subscriptions are planned to support Archon's Cloud video features as well.
• Branding may change, but existing subscriptions will not be affected.

So, What has Alex Been up to!?

• Alex has been at Archon for about two months, after completing a three-month notice period with his previous job.
• Most development work has focused on:
  • Shared cloud video infrastructure.
  • Account interoperability.
  • Smaller improvements to the Archon App.
• Warcraft Recorder has received some new features:
  • Character-based upload filtering. Filter guild uploads by character!
  • Instant Replay. Videos can now be watched while they're still recording!

Alex wants to thank the community, contributors, bug reporters, Patreon supporters, and free users alike. This community has enabled him to turn Warcraft Recorder from a personal side project into a full-time career!