World of Warcraft has remained the most played MMO for nearly nine-years, but its old age is beginning to show. Its subscriber base has fallen consistently month-to-month with no sign of relief since Mists of Pandaria released last year. Much of this is due to the game’s required subscription fee which competing games have done away with. Consequently, Blizzard is exploring options for keeping its flagship title above water.
Blizzard community manager Zarhym posted the following on the official WoW forum:
We are currently exploring the possibility of adding a way for players in certain regions to make purchases directly within the game. As part of this process, elements related to this will be appearing on the PTR. We’ll provide additional updates on our plans as development progresses.
WoW‘s presence in the East is what’s most at stake right now. Players from China make up a significant portion of WoW‘s subscriber decline. It appears Blizzard will toy with implementing a cash shop, something usually only seen in free-to-play MMOs, in the East before considering it for other regions.
Fiercely competitive games such as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Wildstar, and The Elder Scrolls Online are soon releasing and will make Blizzard’s job of retaining players even more challenging. It might be sooner rather than later that the world sees a free-to-play WoW.
