World of Warcraft Annual Pass with Diablo III

NOV. 8, 2011 • After noting that the number of active World of Warcraft subscribers had dropped under 11 million to 10.3 million, Activision Blizzard announced an annual pass for the MMO to encourage lapsed players to return. Consumers who make a 12-month commitment to World of Warcraft, will get a copy of Diablo III for free, along with an invitation to the next World of Warcraft beta and an exclusive in-game mount. .....

Lineage II Taken Free-to-Play

NOV. 2, 2011 • With the release of the Goddess of Destruction expansion, publisher NCsoft is transitioning Lineage II free-to-play. No restrictions on content access will be placed on free players. NCsoft is also crafting a new starting experience for new players to get them into the game without a severe disadvantage compared to existing players. Virtual items for sale will be geared to enhanced convenience or cosmetics. The expansion also adds new character c.....

Lego Universe Shut Down

NOV. 1, 2011 • The Lego Group announced that its Lego Universe MMO would be shut down on Jan. 31. Any paid subscribers still in the game by Dec. 31 will get their final month of enhanced service free of charge. The reason given for the decision was that the online world game based on Lego’s brick building toys did not attract sufficient users. Impact: Lego Universe is a product that woul.....

Star Wars: The Old Republic Launches Dec. 20

SEPT. 24, 2011 • During a keynote address at the Eurogamer Expo in London, BioWare founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk announced Star Wars: The Old Republic will launch in the U.S. on Dec. 20, and in Europe on Dec. 22. The standard subscription fee will be $14.99 per month. Impact: The Star Wars MMOG will be a huge test of whether the mandatory subscription model has any life left.  .....

DC Universe MMO Now Free-to-Play

SEPT. 20, 2011 • Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) announced it was taking its DC Universe MMO free-to-play mode in October. At that time, players can download and play the game for free on both the PlayStation 3 and PC. DC Universe will have three new access levels Free, Premium and Legendary. Free includes access to all existing content. Premium is for anyone that spends more than $5 in previous subscriptions or microtransactions, and opens up including addition.....

Netflix Splits Company

SEPT. 19, 2011 • Shortly after separating its pricing stricture for DVD rentals and streamed movie delivery, Netflix announced is was going further by splitting the company. Netflix would remain as the destination for streaming film content, and a new entity called Qwikster would handle DVD rentals. As part of the split, customers subscribing to both would soon be forced to long onto different web sites to reserve content. In addition, Qwikster will add video ga.....