May 15, 2007

NEWS: New WoW Credit Cards

World of Warcraft (WoW), the immensely popular massive multiplayer online role-playing game, may soon be coming to your wallet. Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of the game, have inked a deal with First National Bank to produce credit cards emblazoned with the characters of the game. Setting an industry precedent by becoming the first game manufacturer to join up with a credit card, Blizzard will license the likenesses of several of its characters – like blood elf, dwarf, or paladin – to FNB for the purpose of creating the thirteen unique Visa cards.

WoW players can earn 1% credit back on purchases, which can then be applied towards the $14.95 monthly fee for playing the game online. Furthermore, the rewards can be applied to the purchase of branded merchandise or in-game bonus equipment for one’s character. WoW boasts some 8.5 million global subscription users, and is said to see the move to plastic as a new way of tapping into the market and getting its name out. Experts say that Blizzard may have opened a whole new can of worms by introducing the concept of video game rewards. There has never previously been a rewards scheme that reaches out to gamers in such a way, and there is speculation that other video game companies – like Microsoft, which markets the XBox lines of games- may soon be following suit.


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