Rumor: The World of Warcraft maker's next game will be free-to-play

Blizzard made its millions if not billions through charging Azerothian adventurers $15 a month to play World of Warcraft (WoW). Now, it's rumored that the monolithic developer might buck the dying trend in favor of the new de rigeur: free to play (F2P). A nameless source told Develop that Blizzard plans to release a new game under the free-to-play model popularized by Asian MMOs (massively multiplayer online games) and social games in the U.S.

According to the website, this F2P game will exist alongside other subscription-based games, but its source gave no other details regarding the mystery game. The developer is known to be working on a new MMO dubbed "Project Titan" as well as readying online action role-playing game Diablo 3 for release. Of course, Blizzard declined to comment.

The Irvine, Calif.-based developer has already experimented with the free-to-play model within WoW, offering the first 20 levels of play for free as a trial of sorts. But an entire game dedicated to the business model would invariably change the mode of play. Honestly, given the way the industry is headed--even in "hardcore" games--a move like this would make sense. Besides, by the time Blizzard would release such a game, F2P would almost definitely be the norm.

[Via IndustryGamers]

Would you play a fully F2P online game released by Blizzard? Do you see F2P becoming the norm in online gaming overall? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.