WoW launches in China

In a press release from Blizzard the launch of World of Warcraft in China was announced. That in itself isn't all that interesting, just another localized launch after the US, Korea, and Europe. But the interesting part of the announcement is this:

Only players who have purchased an authorized CD key will be able to activate their accounts and enter the game. Each CD key costs 30 Yuan/RMB and can be purchased with a World of Warcraft Points Card. Point Cards also cost 30 Yuan/RMB and can be used at a rate of 9 points per hour (0.45 Yuan/hour) to play World of Warcraft.

That's right, there is no monthly fee. Instead you pay 0.45 Yuan per hour, which is about 5 US cents. Which is a lot cheaper than playing WoW in the US or in Europe, you would need to play over 300 hours per month to reach the $15 monthly fee of WoW in the US. There also is no CD sold, you just open an account for 30 Yuan ($3.60) and download the game for free. Well, I guess WoW has to be cheaper over there, due to people earning much less. But what really fascinates me is the pay-by-hour business model, because I find it a lot fairer than the pay-by-month model.
- posted by Tobold @ 6:17 PM Permanent Link