WoW considered for iPhone while creators play Star Wars
This week one of the makers of World of Warcraft at Blizzard Entertainment has let it be known that not only he plays Star Wars, his co-workers do as well. Speaking on why it seems that the most popular online role-playing game at the moment WoW seems to be losing subscribers, he noted that it's not just the wait for the upcoming expansion of the game Pandaria that's holding players back, it's the excellence of their competitors. Not only Star Wars: The Old Republic has been named in this case, it's Skyrim as well!
The folks at Eurogamer spoke this week with Blizzard's senior World of Warcraft producer John Lagrave. Who said that the dip Blizzard is experiencing at the moment in subscribers to Wow "has to at least be attributable to [Star Wars] The Old Republic." He added:
"Of course people are trying Star Wars – our development team are trying Star Wars! I'm one of the few people who's still playing it actually, but yeah we've seen a dip in subs. It certainly has to at least be attributable to The Old Republic, but it's also attributable to people who want to wait and get Mists of Pandaria, so it's not surprising." – Lagrave
Lagrave also mentioned that they were looking at giving users additional incentive to continue playing WoW in this low period where WoW subscribers number at around 10.3 million where the peak from last year was 12 million. Boosts included the already announced Scroll of Resurrection campaign as well as a possible free subscription extension all the way up to level 40. At the moment such a possibility does exist but no plans to actually implement it are on the table.
Blizzard's Lagrave also noted Skyrim in its chat about the current state of World of Warcraft subscribers:
"Are they going elsewhere? Yes they are. We don't have a lock on all the best games in the world – Skyrim was an amazing game." – Lagrave
Do you currently play World of Warcraft, or Star Wars: The Old Republic? Or do you play both? Or are you simply waiting for the greatest of them all: Diablo III?! And don't forget to take note Lagrave also told Eurogamer about the mobile future of WoW as well, saying the following whilst holding an iPhone aloft:
"Here's your platform, you've got to put an interface, what do you do? So yes we have [looked into mobile] and we always are. Maybe we'll stumble on the great way to put WOW on the phone – maybe we won't, but we're certainly looking into it." – Lagrave
World of Warcraft certainly isn't over yet!
[via Eurogamer]