Blizzard’s World of Warcraft is no stranger to expensive in-game cosmetics, but its latest super-expensive mount is so popular that it’s creating a shortage of WoW tokens at the in-game auction house.
The mount in question is the Trader’s Gilded Brutosaur, which you can see in the screenshot below.
What’s so special about this Brutosaur mount and why does it cost an eye-watering $90? Not only does it come with a 20th anniversary themed suit of armor encrusted with gemstones representing World of Warcraft’s expansions, it also offers a really useful time saver not normally found on mounts. The Brutosaur allows players to control the in-game auction house and mail as they ride through the world of Azeroth via the characters Morten and Killia, who sit next to the beast.
The mount’s popularity is fueled by Blizzard’s decision to only make it available for purchase for a limited time. It plans to withdraw it from sale on January 6, 2025, so players know they only have a few months left before this particular Brutosaur is (possibly) gone forever.
To put the cost of this mount into context, it’s the same price as the deluxe edition of World of Warcraft’s latest expansion, The War Within, or a roughly half-year subscription to the long-running MMO.
There are plenty within and outside the World of Warcraft community who understandably criticize Blizzard for selling an in-game mount for such an eye-watering price. But some players insist that the Trader’s Gilded Brutosaur is a bargain at $90, and that’s because its value in WoW tokens compares favorably to the five million in-game gold people paid for the original version of this mount when it was released. was sold for a limited time. back in 2018.
WoW tokens can be redeemed for Battle.net balance, not just play time, meaning players can indirectly buy everything Blizzard sells for real money with in-game gold. Here’s how it works: Players can buy a WoW token from Blizzard for $20 and save it for later or place it in the in-game auction house. Another player will (hopefully) buy that token from the auction house for in-game gold, then exchange it for $15 in Battle.net balance (Blizzard actually levies a $5 tax on the transaction). Battle.net balance can then be used to buy anything Blizzard sells for World of Warcraft for real money, including $90 mounts like the Trader’s Gilded Brutosaur.
This method relies on players selling WoW tokens in the game’s auction house, and right now they are in short supply because so many players are buying them up to purchase this mount. That’s why WoW tokens have sold out and their price in gold has skyrocketed.
“Auction House WoW Token is currently out of WoW Token supplies because you need suppliers to meet demand, and currently it’s skyrocketing given the 3% per 20 minutes price cap,” explains redditor arasitar. “WoW Token was 200k at NA. It will probably go to 400k in a short time.”
At the time of publishing this article, a WoW token costs 335,171 gold on US servers. You’ll need six WoW tokens purchased from the auction house to exchange for enough Battle.net balance to pay this $90 amount (6 x $15), which means you’ll be paying a little more at the current rate than pay two million gold. The original Brutosaur cost five million gold.
What does all this tell us? At least not much we didn’t know about the World of Warcraft community. Mounts have proven incredibly popular over the years, regardless of how much money they cost to purchase. The original Brutosaur, released in 2018 alongside the Battle for Azeroth expansion, also sold like hotcakes. World of Warcraft players love their mounts!
For Blizzard it’s laughter all the way to the bank. Or, as Redditor Chuckieshere put it: “This mount probably just made more money than StarCraft 2 for 1/1000th of the effort.”
Wesley is the UK news editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
