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In a bold strategy designed to increase the popularity of their phenomenally successful MMORPG in South Korea, Blizzard has announced that all South Korean’s with an active World of Warcraft account will be able to download and play StarCraft II for free. <\/p>\n
Blizzard’s Chris Sigaty said at a recent event in Seoul that the promotion is “a way of giving something back to such a supportive and skilled community of players.” <\/p>\n
StarCraft II’s pricing strategy in South Korea will be unique in other ways too. Players will be able to buy the game for 69,000 won (R430), or alternatively, download and install it for free, and use gameplay passes to play. 9,900 won (R60) will unlock an entire month of play time, while 2000 won (R12) will allow players 24 hours access to the game. <\/p>\n
This unique payment design is aimed at making the best of South Korea’s widespread “PC Bangs” – essentially internet cafes where people congregate to play games. This payment system allows users to log into any PC at a PC Bang, and using their subscription code to play. <\/p>\n
Other “emerging markets” will be getting a cheaper version of StarCraft II that will limit the multiplayer to 3 months, after which players will have to pay a subscription fee to go online. This will supplement the regular full version as opposed to replacing it. <\/p>\n
We have not been able to get any information out of Activision Blizzard regarding whether we will get a cheaper version in SA.<\/p>\n
Although we should technically be considered an “emerging market”, it looks like we will be limited to the regular full release as we will be using European or US Battle.net servers.<\/p>\n