Blizzard Entertainment & World of Warcraft

Titles „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „

The Lord of the Rings (1991) Battle Chess II: Chinese Chess (1991) The Lost Vikings (1992) Rock & Roll Racing Blackthorne (1994) The Death and Return of Superman (1994) Warcraft: Warcraft: Orcs and Human (1994) The Lost Vikings II (1995) Justice League Task Force (1995) Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (1995) Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal (1996) Diablo (1996) Starcraft (1998) Starcraft: Starcraft: Brood War (1998) Diablo II (2000) Diablo II: Lord of Destruction (2001) Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002) Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (2003) World of Warcraft (2004) World of Warcraft: Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (2007)

Basics of Online Gaming „

„

„

Online games refer to video games that are played over some form of computer network, most commonly the Internet. Online games started in the 1980s with MUDs, simple multiplayer text-based games, often played on a bulletin board system (BBS) using a modem. As the World Wide Web developed and browsers became more sophisticated, people started creating browser games that used a web browser as a client.

What is a MMORPG? MMORPG = Massively Multiplayer Online RolePlaying Game „ Players create and control their own fictional fantasy character and take control over that character’s actions „ Persistent world = virtual world that is always available and events happen continually whether you personally are logged in or not „

Blizzard’s Most Successful Game – World of Warcraft in the News „ „ „ „ „ „

Since debuting in North America on November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft Warcraft has become the most popular MMORPG around the world. 31,400,000 pages on “World of Warcraft” Warcraft” on a Google search January 11, 2007 – World of Warcraft Surpasses 8 Million Subscribers Worldwide Newest expansion pack to WoW, The Burning Crusade, sold 2.4 million million copies in the first 24 hours it was available, making it the fastest selling computer game ever $40 game x 2.4 million people x $15/month/person subscription fee fee = $441.6 million dollars made in a one year period just on subscriptions and game purchases of the EXPANSION alone! Whorecraft: Whorecraft: Swords, Sorcery, and Sex http://www.whorecraft.net/

How does a game like this work? „

„ „

World of Warcraft is hosted by AT&T, which houses servers for the game at data centers in Los Angeles and Redwood City, Calif., and Ashburn, Va. WoW is what is known as a "sharded" online game. Gameplay

What does it look like?

Why is WoW so successful? „

Franchise Development – Big 3 Universes: Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo – Original Warcraft (1994) launched Blizzard into success as their first RTS – Warcraft II (1995) technologically superior to original – Warcraft III (2002) released after much anticipated wait – World of Warcraft (2004) built on RTS success to enter MMORPG realm

Expanding their horizons „ „ „ „ „

Blizzard capitalized on gaming market through release of expansion packs Warcraft II, Starcraft, Diablo II, Warcraft III and World of Warcraft all have expansions WoW: The Burning Crusade sold 2.4 million copies in 24 hours Expansion offers extended experience to keep players interested in the game More to do = more hours playing = more subscription money

Battle.net and Online Play „ „ „ „ „ „

Battle.net launched with in 1997 with Diablo as a quick, easy way to play online Continued to be used for Starcraft, Diablo II and Warcraft II Game obsession continues way past completion of single player missions Nearly 12 million active users totalling 2.1 million hours online per day WoW exclusively online with subscription cost of $15/month Sunken cost fallacy keeps players coming back for more

Path to Success „ „ „ „

„

Of the best selling PC games of all time, 3 of top 5 are from Blizzard All franchises played worldwide and available in multiple languages Each new game highly anticipated by cult following Expanding into new markets such as books, action figures, trading cards and upcoming liveaction film Strong commitment to main franchises and the fans of them

Virtual Community „ “Community

is one

of the most important aspects in our lives and one of the holiest of grails on the Internet.” –Nathan Shedroff

Guilds „ Social

Interaction „ Rules, regulations and proper guild protocol and etiquette enforced „ Mythology „ Utopia

Virtual Continent „ Eastern

Kingdoms – Alliance (4 cities) „ Kalimdor – Horde (4 cities) „ 6 neutral cities

Realms of the Real „ PvE „ PvP „ RP „ RPvP

Not so utopian after all…

Regulation 101

„China

Gold Farming „

Exploiting game’s repetitive mechanics to obtain valuable items

Gold Farming in China „

„ „

Approx. 100,000 people are employed as gold farmers Æ 0.4% of all online gamers in China Typically work 12-18 hour shifts Discrimination complaints from Chinese gamers

Game Economy Impact „

„

Common misconception that gold farming is damaging to game economy as a whole Blizzard states in EULA that it retains sole property of all game assets

Rules and Enforcement „ Prohibited

by EULA, but requires manpower to enforce it „ Data mining used to detect suspicious activity

Cyberwhoring in WoW „ When

gold farming just isn’t rewarding enough…

What do you think? „ How

can other companies apply Blizzard’s model to create their own successes? „ Is it moral for a game like WoW to require subscription fees when it perpetuates addiction? „ Should Blizzard limit playtime to it’s subscribers?