Blizzard introduces new pricing model for mobile Warcraft

World of Warcraft developer Blizzard has revealed plans to add an optional subscription model to its MMO, with players paying $2.99 a month to remotely browse, buy and sell in-game items.

The World Of Warcraft Remote service will be available via any web browser, and as an update to Blizzard's existing World of Warcraft Armory app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad

Remotely browsing the in-game auction house will be free, but bids and sales for items will require paid access to World of Warcraft Remote. Subscriptions are not yet available, but are currently being beta trialled on a free basis for active US WoW subscribers.

Blizzard has not revealed a final date for the launch of the new paid service.

While this new payment model is likely to prove controversial, Blizzard has previously established that its customers have a significant appetite for paid add-ons.

Within three hours of the launch of April's Celestial Steed promotion, over 140,000 players were queuing to pay $25 for an in-game flying horse, generating over $3.5m of revenue on the item's first day of release.

World of Warcraft's current subscriber numbers are unknown - at one point the MMO temporarily lost an estimated six million Chinese customers due to a protracted move to a new server host - but at its peak it boasted 11.5m paying players.

Parent company Activision Blizzard confirmed this month that WoW's ongoing success helped drive its better-than-expected financial results for the first quarter of 2010.

With Apple confirming over 30 million iPhone OS devices sold between June 2007 and March 2010, there is likely to be a significant crossover audience. Potentially more lucrative, however, is simple browser access to the World of Warcraft Remote service, allowing players to manage their in-game inventories from any web-enabled PC.

While take-up of the new paid service remains to be seen, it is possible the bold pricing scheme may be further justified by the inclusion of future remote access features, such as social networking for in-game Guilds.

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