Should World of Warcraft switch to F2P mode? Some players have been asking themselves this question for many years. If a good number of players will answer you that it is out of the question, others believe that it is legitimate to approach the subject for an MMORPG which will soon celebrate its 18 years.
In recent years, Blizzard has gained great experience in free to play games. Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, Diablo Immortal and more recently Overwatch 2 have had mixed fortunes but show that the studio has not remained insensitive to the call of F2P.
The advantages of this business model are well established. The possibility of playing a game without paying for it allows a greater number of players to test the experience. This is all the more true for young people whose purses are often less well stocked.
Conversely, an F2P game can cause great frustration among users, the fault of microtransactions that are sometimes too present or through game mechanics that block progress and give the feeling that you have to take out the credit card to take full advantage of the title.
At present, there is no question of seeing World of Warcraft land in Free to Play. We can play WoW for free but the possibilities offered to players are quite limited. Blizzard is faithful to its subscription model, the price of which has not changed a penny since its launch in 2004. It’s ultra profitable… but is it still enough in 2022?
With the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, new ideas may arise for the future of World of Warcraft. We have already talked about the possibility of seeing WoW sur le Xbox Game Passbut there are also rumors of plans to port the MMO to the Xbox Series X/S.
The transition to F2P would be a cataclysm for World of Warcraft and the game would be profoundly upset. While it is difficult to imagine the changes that would take place, there is no doubt that the subject is regularly the subject of reflection within the governing bodies. If this does not seem to be on the agenda and WoW remains a formidable financial windfall for the studio, it is difficult to believe that the game will remain paying ad vitam aeternam.
We can also imagine a hybrid model, as is done on some MMORPGs, with a subscription that gives access to everything and an F2P mode that allows new players to test the game with certain restrictions. A kind of extended discovery edition in a way.
What do you think ?