In October 2011 Blizzard held an auction for a number of retired World of Warcraft server blades–hardware once used to house realms from the game. The charity auction, which donates funds to St. Jude's Children Research Hospital for children's cancer research, has just recently raised $330,000.
Blizzard called the auction last year after it found itself with 2000 old server blades. After remarking how lucrative a collector's item these could be, the company fitted all of them with commemerative plaques and took to eBay.
Each blade serves as a reminder for the realms of Azeroth they once held, notes Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime.
"World of Warcraft realms are like the virtual neighborhoods of the game's community," he says, adding, "[They] contain the spaces where millions of players have made friendships, forged friendly rivalries, and created lasting memories … Each winner in this auction will own a small monument to those collective experiences. The best part is that this auction benefits a great charity doing tremendous work in helping children from the U.S. and around the world."
