Blizzard President Talks WoW

In a new interview, Mike Morhaime talks pandas, what it takes to succeed in China, and why Warcraft won't be going free to play anytime soon.

Eurogamer and its sister site GamesIndustry.biz today posted an enlightening conversation with Mike Morhaime, president of Blizzard.

Morhaime responds to early critiques of the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria expansion, declaring that some of the lighter elements being introduced are necessary for the continued health of the game, and that the tone of the game serves a needed purpose to draw in some Chinese overtonres -- a market that is increasingly important to Blizzard. "Well I guess the Pandarens are light, there's certainly an amount of levity and humour. And also a nod to Chinese culture. But yeah, really excited about the pet battling system. You know, World of Warcraft needs things like that, mini-games and things that you can do when you're not raiding."

Morhaime also had some words for folks who are crossing their fingers that World of Warcraft will go free to play sometime soon. "I think that there's an underlying, a fundamental assumption right now, that the less you charge, the more money you make. Which isn't true. And it doesn't necessarily make for a better game. I mean, everybody likes free... I think that definitely, players have seen a lot of really great quality free-to-play experiences, but I'm not sure it's the best model for us right now."

Make sure and check out the full interview for all Morhaime's thoughts on the continued life and growth of WoW.