WoW may go free-to-play in China

[mlauzon76]

According to a news story on RedlineChina, The9 -- publisher of Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft in China -- is currently in talks with Blizzard to offer WoW as a free-to-play game in China.

This is rather surprising news to hear, especially after The9's Q3 sales report where the company had net revenue of $42.2m -- due almost entirely to World of Warcraft. That said, the company is also barely scraping by on profits because of increasing operating costs for the game. The increased costs are primarily due to the use of high-quality HP server farms to support its popularity in China.

So then, why would The9 consider a free-to-play version of World of Warcraft, possibly further crippling profits? Granted, free-to-play games are becoming increasingly more popular. Jun Zhu -- the company's CEO -- mentioned it during an interview with local media in China, so it will be interesting to hear how Blizzard responds to this.

Source: CURSE

[Janitor]

I guess the WoW players in European countries aren't going to like this news

[+ir0nw0lf Subscriber²]

I guess the WoW players in European countries aren't going to like this news

Er, and us US peeps will like it? :wacko:

[DR3AMxCATCHER]

Private servers are the way to go.

[tunafish]

if that happens i will demand the same as why should i have to pay when people in some game addicited country get it for free

[Knife Party]

the chinese flood WOW anyway, i wonder how bricked those servers are going to be now?

anyway, what makes China so special?

[Leddy]

if that happens i will demand the same as why should i have to pay when people in some game addicited country get it for free

If your countrymen are so much more intelligent than those in said "game-addicted" country, then you should be able to answer that question.

It's simple- price discrimination. you pay because you can.

[(Spork)]

Private servers are the way to go.

please never post again

[Miuku.]

Er, and us US peeps will like it? :wacko:

You're all rich bastids anyway :o

[Echilon]

So where would their revenue come from?

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

So where would their revenue come from?

From selling in-game gold %)

[Janitor]

Er, and us US peeps will like it? :wacko:

Don't really care about the US, you have the world to play with.

[HawkMan]

Private servers are the way to go.

well, yeah... if you don't actually want to play the game...

then again, I don't want to play the game, imho it's the worst MMO right after all the NCsoft games out there. well possibly behind MXo too, but I never bothered to try that.

[That Guy Veteran]

Hmm, so if they weren't addicted already, now they can be (and for free too)?