Blizzard: WoW Won't Be Going Free-To-Play

Mike Kayatta

Minister of Secrets
Aug 2, 2011
2,315
0
0
Blizzard: WoW Won't Be Going Free-To-Play



Despite an evolving MMO marketplace, World of Warcraft is sticking to its subscription blunderbusses.

If there's been any major change to the MMO genre in the past few years it's been the adoption of the free-to-play business model. Not only are countless new MMOs using the micro-transaction pay scheme from the get-go, but some of the big boy contenders that started with subscriptions have even converted after launch; Games like DC Universe Online, Age of Conan, and Star Trek Online have all stopped asking their players to mail in a check every month. According to Blizzard president Mike Morhaime, World of Warcraft won't be quite as quick to jump on the bandwagon.

"I think that there's an underlying, a fundamental, assumption right now that the less you charge, the more money you make ... which isn't true. And it doesn't necessarily make for a better game," Morhaime said. "I mean, everybody likes free... I think that definitely, players have seen a lot of really great quality free-to-play experiences, but I'm not sure it's the best model for us right now."

WoW has seen a slow but steady decline in its subscription numbers for the past year, but Morhaime refuses to give into external game analyst predictions that WoW may be forced to adopt the free model at some point soon. According to him, quality is king, and WoW is synonymous with quality.

"For us, and even for EA with the Star Wars game, I think that the value that you get for the $15 a month is just unmatched," he said. "I don't think you can get that amount of entertainment value anywhere. I'd put the $15 up against anything.

"Definitely, if you're not charging anybody, [players] are going to be a lot more forgiving about the experience they have. They haven't paid anything. So in terms of developers entering the market, I can understand why a lot of games might choose to go free-to-play."

Zing! It almost sounds like Morhaime is implying that free-to-play games only use the model to get away with offering lower quality content. Still, many games (such as the upcoming MMO, FireFall [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/features/9013-Evolve-or-Die]) are pushing the limits what we've come to expect from free-to-play titles. If they can match WoW's quality pixel for pixel, Morhaime might have to reconsider his argument.

In lieu of changing its price, WoW has been trying some other ideas to keep the game on top, such as a free copies of upcoming Diablo 3. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113787-Pandaren-Join-World-Of-Warcraft-In-Next-Expansion] Regardless of the game's recent "decline," love it or hate it, WoW is still on top by a long shot, and they didn't get there by not understanding the marketplace.

Source: Eurogamer.net [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-10-27-blizzard-f2p-not-the-best-model-for-wow]




Permalink
 

Ferisar

New member
Oct 2, 2010
814
0
0
Honestly, I'd rather them not go free to play anytime soon. The second Blizzard takes a step back from anything they've done is the second the game stops getting frequent touch-ups and becomes stagnant. Not that WoW lacks stagnancy, but it's at least in a reliable state of "Something new at least several times a year".
Besides, WoW can hold its own until well into Titan, I'd imagine.
 

Metzeten

New member
Oct 16, 2009
170
0
0
EverythingIncredible said:
I'll give them a year.

You know, while their subscriptions continue to plummet to the might of games like Guild Wars 2.
As long as it is a year so I can get my free diablo 3 then bail out when it starts being flooded with freeplayers, I don't care if that does happen.

Still, I highly doubt if they are going to worry until the player base drops below about 7million.
 

Desworks

New member
Nov 18, 2009
151
0
0
In general, I prefer non F2P MMO's, simply because having a monthly fee acts as an incredible powerful asshole filter. Not that WoW doesn't have it's fair share of jerks, but it's nothing compared to the amounts that I've experienced in my adventures in the F2P world.

That said, I'll still be giving Guild Wars 2 a go, because it's so very pretty.
 

RedBeta22

New member
Aug 28, 2008
338
0
0
Then what's with all those annoying adverts declaring WoW is Free to Play already? Yes I know it's really advertising the extended trial but still, why advertise your game as free to play and then say you're never going free to play?
 

deth2munkies

New member
Jan 28, 2009
1,066
0
0
AHEM: http://www.firefallthegame.com/community/threads/not-an-mmo.444/

Irresponsible reporting!

(j/k)

Also still laughing at people saying GW2 will kill WoW and all the like.

The only thing that will kill WoW is WoW. It is exactly the standard for the entire genre, no other game can or will boast that title ever again. Despite how badly they want to ram it into the ground, it's going to keep on going till Blizzard puts it to bed.
 

Aeshi

New member
Dec 22, 2009
2,640
0
0
Good for them I say, the F2P market basically consists of nothing but rip-offs where you have to pay real money to be able to kill monsters or other such crap anyway (and I don't see that changing in the future)

EDIT:
Zulnam said:
Make vanilla-only servers, damn you! Bring back the good times!
Also this, one of reasons I haven't gone back to WoW (even though I want to) is because it's literally no longer the world I know.
 

SpyderJ

New member
Aug 15, 2011
6
0
0
RedBeta22 said:
Then what's with all those annoying adverts declaring WoW is Free to Play already? Yes I know it's really advertising the extended trial but still, why advertise your game as free to play and then say you're never going free to play?
I thought all of those just specifically stated "Free to play......Until level 20"
 

Warstratigier

New member
Mar 28, 2009
92
0
0
WoW is just singing the same tired old tune and that was the reason why I, who did WoW in the vanilla times, am detached completely. Instead, I am now a major supporter of Firefall and I am glad to see it cited specifically as an example.
 

Puddleknock

New member
Sep 14, 2011
316
0
0
I always assumed the number of free MMOs was due to WoW in the first place. Other MMOs can't get players to subscribe when WoW has such a hold on the pay monthly market. With this hold I can see no need for WoW to go f2p.
 

bladester1

New member
Feb 5, 2008
285
0
0
Zulnam said:
Make vanilla-only servers, damn you! Bring back the good times!
I second this! If they would bring back classic wow style, and of course I had a job, I'd come back.