Micro-transactions already exist for Blizzard's World of Warcraft, but now the studio is "currently exploring the possibility" of adding in direct ways to make real money purchases in-game within certain regions. It's being put through the paces via the Public Test Realm, and Blizzard will "provide additional updates" on their plans as it progresses. Rumours started after a XP-boost spell was spotted on the PTR.
Blizzard has revealed in its official forums that there may be microtransactions added to World of Warcraft, though it'll probably be restricted to "certain regions", which some speculated would be the Asian market.
There's definitely doings afoot in World of Warcraft on the micro-transaction front as community manager Bashiok posts on the Battle.net forums more details about Blizzard's plans for in-game real money purchases. The benefits of in-game stores are "pretty clear" for those who already spend on pets and mounts, as you don't need to leave the game. Convenience is the "long-term goal".
Activision-Blizzard has revealed in their latest financial statement that the paid subscribership of their premiere MMO World of Warcraft has dropped in the past quarter to 7.7M players.
World of Warcraft has been declining in recent months, down to 7.7M paid subscribers, and questions have been posed about what the next Blizzard MMO would be, and what the status of Project Titan is. Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime has confirmed that Project Titan has been overhauled.
In a bid to combat "less-than-optimal play experience" in World of Warcraft, Blizzard is to add Connected Realms to the MMORPG. These are designed to permanently link certain standard realms together. That means players can mingle, join guilds, share the Auction House, and run raids and dungeons together. This measure is targeting "lower-population realms" to help bolster group numbers.
Lead systems designer Greg Street for World of Warcraft has just posted a lengthy breakdown of the impending class balance changes Blizzard are enacting with Patch 5.4. He offers a general overview of the tweaks. To really understand all of his explanations you'll need to have read the 5.4 patch notes, and Street also asks that we not judge degrees of "love or hate" for each class by paragraph length.
Blizzard has registered a new videogame trademark for The Dark Below, which some speculate is a possible new World of Warcraft expansion.
A new open-world zone is coming with Patch 5.4 for World of Warcraft and it's called the Timeless Isle. Apparently it has just "a couple quests" but Blizzard reveals they won't tell you much, encouraging exploration. It offers "greater challenges" on the island, where everything - except raid bosses - can be soloed. All enemies on the Timeless Isle "drops something unique" like "epic BoA tokens" or pets.
StarCraft II, World of Warcraft and Diablo III are about to become roommates in the hilarious new sitcom Battle.net App. Blizzard have released the open beta of their new 'single launcher' for PC. All modern Blizzard games will be downloaded, updated and launched through this single platform. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft will appear to with logins lasting 30 days.
In a new World of Warcraft trailer, the beating heart (pun fully intended) of the story behind the 5.4 update for World of Warcraft features the invasion by Garrosh into the Veil of Eternal Blossoms, where he kills a Pandaren and dumps the heart of the old god Y'Shaarj into the well, corrupting the Veil. Meanwhile, Ogrimmar is a new battleground for Horde and Alliance alike.
World of Warcraft lead designer Tom Chilton revealed in an interview with Polygon at GamesCom 2013 that the long-running mega-popular Western MMO will go free-to-play at some point in the future.
A video preview of the upcoming Patch 5.4 for World of Warcraft has been posted by Blizzard highlighting the impending new content. The patch is subtitled 'Siege of Orgrimmar', hinting at a festival of peace? The Timeless Isle will be appearing just off the coast of the Jade Forest in Patch 5.4, with its content 'exploration-based'. A more lengthy and in-depth blog is available via Battle.net.
The Warcraft movie, which is being produced by Legendary Pictures, finally has a release date.
Some new trademarks have been spotted in New Zealand and Canada for something called 'Heroes of the Storm', and Blizzard Entertainment's finger prints are all over them. Something new for World of Warcraft? An extra slice of StarCraft 2? A slightly belated add-on for Warcraft 3? Blizzard has usually aired an announcement weeks after securing trademarks. Perhaps it's something altogether new?
Blizzard has updated the starter package for World of Warcraft to include all game content up to Cataclysm. This also means subscribers who hadn't bought the Azeroth overhauling add-on now receive it free. From this week forward the $19.99 starter package (formerly known as the Battle Chest) now includes The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm.
Former EA CEO John Riccitiello has dropped the F-bomb on $60 PC and console titles, saying the industry should embrace variable pricing in order to increase their install base for releases. Securing a larger audience with lower pricing is a "really useful thing," he argues, saying it pays more in the end. Games as a service are something critical too.
There'll be more sharing in World of Warcraft's future as Blizzard are connecting up more realms to stave off that eerie ghost town feeling some servers are experiencing. Two further batches have been detailed. More realms will bridge in the future but for now these are it. The first wave of fresh connections should be live with the next not yet dated.
Blizzard has been registering 'Warlords of Draenor' as a trademark of their mighty IP empire, with Draenor the name of the Orcs and Draeni homeland which became the heavily fractured Outland. Speculation is rife then that Blizzard is now looking to overhaul Outland, the new continent added with WoW's first expansion, The Burning Crusade. Time travel returning?
Blizzard has confirmed the new expansion for World of Warcraft, Warlords of Draenor, which was leaked this week. The announcement came at BlizzCon 2013.