Now that the pre-patch for World of Warcraft’s upcoming Battle for Azeroth expansion has now launched (taking out some of the content introduced in the previous Legion expansion in the process), Blizzard has made an interesting change to the base game by removing the initial Battle Chest cost, essentially turning its venerable MMO into a purely buy-to-play (B2P) game.
According to this announcement post on the World of Warcraft website, the initial box cost for the game has been removed entirely. This means that, for the price of the game’s monthly subscription, any player can currently log in and access all of the content from both the base World of Warcraft experience and all six of its currently available expansions (including Legion). Previously, a new player had to first purchase the World of Warcraft Battle Chest (a one-time purchase that also included access to all previously released expansions) before they could sign up for a monthly subscription.
Currently, a World of Warcraft subscription costs $15 if you pay on a month-to-month basis (the cost can be lowered slightly by paying in six-month or 12-month increments). Considering how much content can now be access for that small monthly cost, now seems to be as good a time as ever to hop into World of Warcraft for the first time, or make a return visit if you’ve lapsed in your Azerothian adventures. However, if you want to partake in the new features coming in the Battle for Azeroth expansion, you’ll still have to pony up an additional $49.99.
Battle for Azeroth will launch on Aug. 14. The pre-patch that launched yesterday is meant to help transition players into the expansion’s new gameplay format by introducing story elements and features that will be fully realized once the expansion arrives in full. In other Blizzard news, be sure to read about how Overwatch’s new social features are helping to curb online toxicity.