It’s probable that most consumers who purchase Warcraft on Blu-ray or DVD are already fans of Blizzard games, but the company still isn’t going to pass up the opportunity to give a taste of the gateway drug to any potential new customers. The $15/month subscription fee is a serious barrier for entry when it comes to recruiting new World of Warcraft players, so making the first 30 days as user friendly and affordable as possible is essential to Blizzard’s marketing. With that strategy in mind, the company has included digital keys in select version of the film’s Blu-ray and DVD.
The World of Warcraft digital key includes the core game, its first five expansions, and 30 days of free play time. This isn’t too different from the digital WoW Starter Edition that allows players to play for free up to level 20, but it is still an upgrade. The 30 days of free game time allow players to go well beyond level 20 if they are motivated enough and putting the key into someone’s hand is also a solid marketing technique.
In addition to the World of Warcraft digital content, Blizzard is also using the movie release to promote a few of its other games. Here are the full contents of the physical editions that include game unlocks:
Some gamers may be disappointed that there is no Overwatch content included since that is one of Blizzard’s most recent launches, but it looks like all of the bonus material was attempting to stay connected to the game’s lore by relating to Azeroth, Medivh, and Gul’dan.
Heroes of the Storm - Hero unlock for Gul’dan
World of Warcraft - All content up to Warlords of Draenor and 30 days of game time
Although Warcraft may not have been the breakout movie of the summer, it was certainly far from a failure and managed to become the highest-grossing video game movie of all time. That record will likely be broken by Assassin’s Creed when it releases at the end of the year and it will be very exciting to continue watching the new class of video game movies evolve.
Will you be purchasing Warcraft when it is released? What did you think of the movie?
Warcraft releases on Blu-ray and DVD September 27 in North America.
