14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at Blizzard working on World of Warcraft announces that it plans to increase the amount of money that a player in the United Kingdom will have to pay in order to continue playing the game, while also launching a new loyalty program for those who want to avoid the extra charge.
The official forum announcement claims that “We regularly look at our pricing around the world and from time to time we make changes in light of local and regional market conditions. As such, we want to give everyone a heads-up that we will shortly be adjusting the pound sterling subscription price of World of Warcraft.”
The price increase will only apply in the United Kingdom and will see gamers pay 9.99 British Pounds, which is 16.72 dollars or 12.49 Euro, and those who plan to continue playing for about six months can pay 52.14 British Pounds, the equivalent of 87.23 dollars and 65.14 Euro.
In order to soften the blow to the player community, Blizzard says that it will “guarantee that players with recurring (auto-renewing) subscriptions at the time of the price change will retain their current price for two years, as long as they remain in the same recurring subscription without interruption. This applies to anyone who is already in, or signs up for, a recurring subscription prior to the price change, which is scheduled to take place at the Warlords of Draenor release.”
The studio says that it plans to deliver a message to all affected players about two months before the price change in order to remind them about it and about the long-term renewal offer.
The United Kingdom World of Warcraft fan base is reacting rather angrily on the official forums of the MMO, claiming that Blizzard has no right to increase the subscription price associated with it without increasing the pace of content delivery.
The Warlords of Draenor expansion for the title will be launched on November 13 of this year, designed to take gamers back to the Outlands, the original Orc homeland, while also increasing the level cap and adding abilities to all classes.
Blizzard and Activision are also delivering a new animated lore-focused series called Lords of War.
World of Warcraft has seen its player base drop to 6.8 million for the most recent quarter, but the development team says that the number will increase when Warlords of Draenor is launched.