At the Gamasutra-attended BlizzCon in Anaheim, CA today, the company revealed its plan to give the full digital copy of
Diablo III as a free bonus to buyers of a new
World of Warcraft annual pass.
During the opening ceremonies at the annual conference for Blizzard Entertainment, CEO Michael Morhaime explained that players can get the upcoming action RPG
Diablo III for free if they paid for a 12-month subscription to
WoW.
Morhaime did not reveal pricing specifics for the new annual pass offering, but an
FAQ for the promotion said that the year-long commitment could be paid in monthly installments.
Blizzard also said in order to qualify for the promotion, players must be 18 and older, have a valid credit card and have a full, registered version of
WoW on or before 11/18/2011.
WoW, which originally launched in 2004, has lost a chunk of players over the past several months. Even with the loss of players, the MMO still boasts over 11 million users worldwide.
Blizzard said that once the
WoW annual subscription is up, the digital copy of
Diablo III is for players to keep. Those who partake in the promotion will also get the
World of Warcraft mount, Tyrael's Charger, and beta access to the next
WoW expansion, the
newly-announced Mists of Pandaria.
Blizzard has yet to reveal a firm release date for
Diablo III, but recently
moved the date to sometime in "early 2012.
