Yup, it's been a long time coming, but the out-of-game value-added services for World of Warcraft are finally emerging. The subscriber base has seemingly stagnated at a meager 13 million, and Blizzard [or Activision...] is looking for other creative ways of milking its bulbous bovine. First we saw in-game vanity items -- like pets and mounts -- and now we're actually seeing the start of an out-of-game service: "World of Warcraft Remote." Its first app, Remote Auction House, has begun its beta testing today.
There is both an in-the-browser Web app and a downloadable iPhone app. Both are free to use now, but once beta testing is complete you will have to pay $2.99/month to bid and buy. Browsing the Auction House will be free for everyone. The service is also only available for a handful of US WoW realms at the moment, but Blizzard plans to expand the beta test to include all realms as soon as possible.
I can't help feeling that WoW has become Blizzard's playground. The slow-moving behemoth with a vast, granular player base is ideal for testing out new features like this. I wouldn't be surprised to see Diablo 3 and Blizzard's still-unannounced next-generation MMO ship with a slew of "offline" features. Rest assured, Remote Auction House is just the tip of this iceberg.
World of Warcraft finally gets an iPhone AND in-the-browser app: Remote Auction House! originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 19 May 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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