Battle.net Going Pay-to-Play?

[Evil Avatar]

Gamesindustry.biz has posted an interview (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/blizzards-paul-sams) with Blizzard's Paul Sams, talking about the business of Battle.net, where the question is raised about Battle.net going pay-to-play and the news is not good.

Gamesindustry: One of the things that Rob talked about in the presentation [at BlizzCon] was the marketplace, which he presented as something for the mod community. But are you seeing that as perhaps an extra revenue stream and a way to monetise Battle.net for the company too?

Paul Sams: It's certainly possible. What we're doing right now is building the feature set and we're building all the different elements of the experience. We're trying to figure out how marketplace is going to work exactly and how consumers are going to be able to interact with that marketplace. It's certainly possible that there could be a charging mechanism at some point. I don't have any real details about that right now, but it's certainly something we're looking at - we're looking at all sorts of possibilities for each of the areas of Battle.net.

All good things...

[MacDuff]

pretty sure he's talking about a charging system for buying maps, buddy...

[greenapple]

You heard it first at Evil Avatar: PC gaming is DOOMZED!

Could Bnet be charging at some point for something? Perhaps. The world could perhaps end in nuclear fire, too. This comment doesn't cast any certain light on either of those things.

[Evil Avatar]

pretty sure he's talking about a charging system for buying maps, buddy...

Since that system was already announced, I don't think that is what he is talking about.

I think people are in for a real shocker at some point in the near future. While there would be this huge fanboy outcry if they started charging for Battle.net what you have to remember is that 90% of the people out there (and 100% of the Koreans) would just shut up and pay it. It seems silly for them to be wasting time and resources on Battle.net and even delaying the release of Starcraft II until Battle.net is ready if they don't plan to charge something for the service.

[Itchyeyes]

pretty sure he's talking about a charging system for buying maps, buddy...
Yeah, that's the way I read it too. I saw plenty of talk about charging for content, but not a word about charging for service.

[julienb01]

Another attractive news header line, Mr evil avatar? :)

He's talking about the fact that the market place of battle net will have some stuff you'll pay for. He's nowhere stating you'll need to pay to play with battlenet to SC2, D3 or other Blizzard games... You should have also highlighted the previous sentence, since without it, the one you highlighted could be easily misinterpreted without it... just as you probably did.
Ah.. Removing context is so easy :)

[pwnophobia]

"we're looking at all sorts of possibilities for each of the areas of Battle.net."

[Evil Avatar]

"we're looking at all sorts of possibilities for each of the areas of Battle.net."

Speaks for itself doesn't it?

What you have to remember is two-fold. First ATVI holds the reins. Second, you live in the post-console DLC world now. Look at the money ATVI has made from the DLC for Call of Duty: World at War.

They have released three expansion packs of 3 (or 4) maps each and each expansion pack has sold more than a Million units at $10 each. That is an additional $40 Million in revenue. When you think about the almost 100% pure profit from DLC, I would think that ATVI made almost as much 'profit' from the DLC as they did from the sale of the game.

The motivation is there...

[MacDuff]

the fact that they haven't just come out and said the new battle.net will be free is troubling, especially since whats-his-name said he wanted to make blizz-activision the most profitable gaming enterprise ever

I highly doubt that 90% will "shut up and pay" though. Blizzard knows its fanbase well enough to know that they would never be forgiven for making bnet a pay service.

[Tintivilo]

Imagine the loot blizzard would make charging just korea for starcraft 1 pay2play!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! $$<--

[modeps]

the fact that they haven't just come out and said the new battle.net will be free is troubling, especially since whats-his-name said he wanted to make blizz-activision the most profitable gaming enterprise ever

I'd agree it is troubling. I'd imagine that they're looking to make ladders and tournaments pay-to-play on certain levels and maybe give out prizes or something, but making people pay just to be on Battle.net seems excessive... specially considering World of Warcraft will use Battle.net's friends list and what not. Double dipping won't work, but I can see premium content for sure.

[Caerim]

I'd be truly shocked if B.net started to be pay-to-play. Pay for Premium content, I could totally see though. There's already tournament play in WoW for prizes that costs extra and I see that sort of service flying on B.net with all the semi-pro gamers out there.

[Sensei-X]

Could they charge for it? Sure. But I think that applies to anything game related nowadays, and it would be pretty stupid and irresponsible for any executive to say "No, we will never charge for that" knowing full well that at some point they might have to and everyone would dig up the interview and say "Hey! What the fuck, you said you'd never charge for this".

[Exodus]

What a cheap ploy to garner attention for your website by totally misinterpreting a news article.

[Roc Ingersol]

step 1: ads
step 2: "pay for X, Y, Z and no ads"
step 3: more egregious ads

[Johan]

Inevitable, as is the failure of those who scream for a boycott when it does happen. :D

[DCJoeDog]

and now you see why the LAN feature was removed

[IveGotThatWiperFluid]

Wow, that's taking things out of context. Nowhere is pay-to-play mentioned or even hinted at that I can read. The only thing I see is a answer to charging for premium content (maps), which was posted a few days ago as news on this very site, making this not news.

Perhaps we should leave the fearmongering and boycotting rallies for a day when it actually is discussed?

Unless they radically change the way Bnet works and how we use it, they wouldn't be stupid enough to charge for a glorified chat room and game listing application because they know we aren't stupid enough to pay for a glorified chat room and game listing application. That's the way I see it anyway. And if battle reports are any indication, they aren't exactly revolutionizing the genre either.

[surj0]

given their agreement with massive, i'd say charging is only an option to remove ads, if they even go pay to play.

[MasterEvilAce]

I will not buy star craft 2 if i have to pay to play online.
I don't mind having to connect to battle.net... i just don't want to pay twice

I don't see how they can require paying $$ for maps.. since they're going to HAVE TO support custom content... what's stopping you from just sharing the maps you bought as custom maps?

[BabyJesus]

Live is the only pay to play service I will use. Simply don't have the inclination to do any more. But hell since I got a 2 $19 cards for 13 months and 4 or 5 xbox failure 1 month cards, I am paid up to like 2012 anyway. :)

Monthly fees are for the birds and I don't like blizzards games enough to pay a monthly fee. Besides diablo, I think they are highly over rated anyway. Warcraft/Starcraft, while fun, haven't really changed much in their various iterations. I don't know what takes them so long to make games as it is. Its not like they have ever been perfect out of the gate.

[randir14]

I never enjoyed Diablo 2 online and I certainly wouldn't pay to play Diablo 3 online.

[bub64882]

I doubt BNet will be pay to play...Though I'm sure there will be ways to generate revenue from the service, just like in PSN, XBox Live, and Steam.

[Hagetaka]

It would be foolish to be so absolute about a free Battle.net.

How are they going to be the most profitable gaming company ever, if the don't charge a monthly fee? The fact that they want a marketplace to charge for mods, should provide an indication of how they are viewing this.

Blizzard is dead, don't be so blind.

[modeps]

Blizzard's response:
http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94139

[Evil Avatar]

Good score, modeps!