World of Warcraft's most expensive mount ever may be making a comeback, and I can already smell the backlash

What's the most expensive videogame cosmetic you've ever bought? If you're answer is 'none,' then that's probably a good thing. For me, it was the Valorant Go! Volume One skin collection back in 2021, which cost me far more than I'm willing to admit in writing. For some people, splashing the cash on their favorite game is a no-brainer, while for others, it's unthinkable. That's why, when Blizzard added the Brutosaur to World of Warcraft, the MMO's fanbase cracked down the middle, as if struck by a very large sword. While it's an awesome cosmetic in its own right, the price point was about as high as the meandering dinosaur's head, and a lot of people really didn't like that. But new datamines hint that the colossal creature could be coming back, although perhaps not in the same form.

The Mighty Caravan Brutosaur first appeared in Battle For Azeroth as a limited-time mount, priced at 5,000,000 gold. Given that gold is largely earned in-game (you can obviously trade using WoW Tokens, the Auction House, and other more nefarious methods) that's an awful lot of grinding - more than most people are really willing to commit to. It was then removed from the game coming into Shadowlands, but briefly reappeared in a slightly different form for World of Warcraft's 20th anniversary event in 2024.

Priced at an impressive $90 (~£60), the new and improved Trader's Gilded Brutosaur (which is black instead of green and sports golden armor instead of a more traditional wooden saddle) is the game's most expensive mount to date.

Dataminers at Wowhead have discovered a new line of code, however, which may imply that the Brutosaur is set to reappear. Looking at build 12.0.0.64124, a new store item is listed as 'CatalogShopWideCardBrutosaurComebackROW.BLP,' heavily implying that the lumbering dinosaur will be added back into the store.

The 'comeback' part is interesting, however, with Wowhead speculating that we could see a new variant of the mount instead of just a straight rerun. Given that it's already had two different forms and has only appeared twice, this makes a lot of sense. It's being readded to the premium store, however, so I doubt that $90 price point is going anywhere (other than up, if I'm being jaded).

The Brutosaur is one of WoW's most controversial mounts. The Mighty Caravan's 5,000,000 gold price point certainly hurts, but at least it encouraged you to interact with the game and grind for a prize. Sure it's out of the reach of more casual players (and even some of the most dedicated fans'), but that's standard procedure for a lot of MMOs.

The Trader's Gilded one, however, is just a representation of how big you wallet is. The responses to the 2024 forum post revealing the mount are pretty harrowing, with some players calling it a "cashgrab," while others lament grinding for the original version, only to have it added to the store years later. We saw the same debate around the return of Tyrael's Charger, and if the Brutosaur does reappear, I'd expect the same level of backlash - especially given how dedicated you needed to be to grind for the original one.

With the WoW Midnight beta just around the corner and the next chapter of Azeroth's story on the horizon, we've got a list of the best WoW addons, but note that classics like WeakAuras have bit the dust. If you're looking to move on to pastures anew, however, or just don't fancy more subscription fees, we have a list of all the best free MMORPGs, too.