World Of Warcraft Expansions To Continue Forever, iPhone Apps Coming, Says Blizzard CEO

Eric Krangel | November 17, 2008 4:00 PM

blizzard-lichking.jpgWorld of Warcraft players may be so excited over the new expansion "Wrath of the Lich King" they're playing until they pass out, but there's more WoW in the works. Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime told MTV he plans to keep releasing expansions to the game so long as there's interest -- and given the two-hour queues to play, there's plenty of that.

Highlights of the MTV piece:

  • Morhaime: "We will continue making expansions as long as we have players that want to play 'World of Warcraft'."  Blizzard's goal is to release a new add-on every year, but that may be aggressive, and there's no commitment to a November 2009 release.
  • No changes to WoW's subscription price (about $15 a month) are being planned.
  • The company is looking at how to incorporate an iPhone application into the game, but they've ruled out an "independent standalone application." What does that leave? Checking your WoW in-game email from your cell phone? Trading virtual goods at WoW's "auction house?"

But this is the best line, where Mike defends WoW's monthly fee as a lot of bang for your buck: "If you look at other choices that you can make — like going to a movie with a date — you’ve already over your 15 dollars for two hours." Mike may have a point, but we'd suggest to any World of Warcraft players reading this that while dates are indeed expensive, it's worth stepping away from the land of Azertoth now and again.

See Also:
World Of Warcraft Frenzy: Two-Hour Lines For Lich King
Chinese Government Gets In On Gold Farming Action With New 20% Tax
Geeks Camp Out In The Cold For New Warcraft (Photos)

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7 Comments

Jessica Haralson (URL) said:
As an avid WoW er, I'm actually a little disappointed that they're coming out with wave after wave of expansions. That kind of takes away from the fun of the game -- there's only so many levels you can climb until it gets ridiculous. Does Blizzard seriously think new players will slog through the time it takes to reach, say, level 100?

With that said, I'll probably keep playing. But I'd love to see Blizz come out with a new MMORPG. Something with better graphics and a completely new mythology. They've established how good they are... maybe they can make something more complex. Perhaps introducing a concept of morality a la dungeons and dragons?
Big Chicago said:
Wrath of the Lich King would be a fantastic stand-alone game without any of the MMO aspects. Outdated though the engine is, Blizzard did some really impressive things with it. If they went back and overhauled the rest of the world to look like Northrend, a lot of the complaints would die down in a hurry.

Relatively low-end graphics also make the audience bigger; Warhammer and particularly Age of Conan suffered from having beastly system requirements. The fact you can play WoW at max on multi-year old hardware is not something to overlook, especially when people are running out of credit and that new PC isn't happening.
pei (URL) said:
who cares!
Warren said:
Jessica,
Faster leveling can fix that. Blizz has to keep coming out with expansions. If they don't people will complain about the lack of new content.
Justin Slocum said:
WOW is for losers with no lives.
chris said:
so is commenting on things about wow, especially when you don't play it.
discorso said:
I cannot express how depressed I was to hear that there will be no end to the expansions. I've already lost my husband of one year to the game. No end in sight it seems. Special place in hell for these creators.

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