In a forum post a few days ago Blizzard has confirmed the introduction of an in-game store into World of Warcraft, an element well known to the players of most MMOs and MOBAs. While the spectrum of items player can purchase in such stores varies from game to game, the usual idea is to offer saving some time in exchange for cash. WoW had real-money purchases available before, but these concerned mainly minipets and mounts and were performed through the website. The brand new store will be introduced separately in Asia and the rest of the world, with the former getting to try out the dreaded XP boosters and other gameplay help which could be considered pay-to-win.

On one hand, it may possibly be just as the official statement says – an answer to the players' demands. However, the possibility of introducing XP boosters into the store, as well as the fact that WoW's competition benefits greatly from introducing micro-transactions systems, makes one think. After all, Riot is able to pull off huge LoL world championships with such source of income and ArenaNet's Guild Wars 2 supposedly earns enough not to need further boxed expansions. So, are we looking at Blizzards simple attempt to earn a bit, or is it another clue of their flagship title going f2p sometime soon?