Blizzard ‘not sure’ on WoW free-to-play model

Blizzard has said they’re not sure if a free-to-play model should be applied for World of Warcraft.

The company’s president Mike Morhaime told Eurogamer during an interview at BlizzCon:

I think it’s very expensive to make these games, especially if you’re expecting people to pay a monthly fee just to play the game. And so there are very few companies that can compete at that high level with those types of budgets. Definitely if you’re not charging anybody, they’re 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.

He continued:

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. I don’t think you can get that amount of entertainment value anywhere. I’d put the $15 up against anything.

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. 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.

During BlizzCon Blizzard took the opportunity to announce a new expansion pack for the game, entitled Mists of Pandaria.