Blizzard Entertainment is the company behind the popular MMORPG (multi player online role playing game) called WoW (World of Warcraft) [1]. WoW was deemed the most popular and most profitable game in the world [2] [4]. Like most MMORPG, WoW is a subscription based service which means players pay a monthly subscription fee to keep the online account active and be able to logon to the WoW server to play the game. The monthly subscription fee accounts for the majority of WoW’s revenue in addition to cost for purchasing the game itself. Players are required to purchase the WoW game from Blizzard or any video game retail outlet such as Future Shop and Best Buy. The initial cost for purchasing the game normally covers the first month of game play. However, subsequent month of gameplay requires prepayment made by credit card transaction on Blizzard website or purchase prepaid game card from video game retail outlet. Regardless of the payment method, a monthly fee is needed to continue ongoing service. The amount of the fee is depended on the country the player is residing, $15 dollars per month in US and $5 dollars per month in China for example [3]. In addition to the aforementioned revenue generation methods, Blizzard releases expansion pack periodically to add new contents to the original WoW game. The expansion pack brings in additional income for the company and occasionally a collector edition game will be released for fans.

Dickson

[1] http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/

[2] http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/272476

[3] http://www.quora.com/How-much-revenue-does-World-of-Warcraft-generate-for-Blizzard

[4] http://blogs.oracle.com/arhus/entry/wow_gorgeos_game_and_smart